book reviews - Christian Library Journal

Christian 

Library 

J O U R N A L 

Volume X, No.3 

September 2005

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The purpose of the Christian Library 

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Library Journal. 

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Mary McKinney Editor: Fiction 

YA Nonfiction 

Maxine Cambra Editor: YA Fiction 

Rosemarie DiCristo Editor: 

Children’s Nonfiction 

Sylvia Stopforth Editor: Children’s Fiction 

Karen Brehmer Editor: Picture Books 

Cover: The Jim Elliot Story (DVD). Vision 

Video, 2005. Used with permission. 

Published in the U.S.A. ©2004, Christian 

Library Journal. 

Christian 

Library 

J O U R N A L 

T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S 

Volume X, No.3 

September, 2005 

ISSN 1097-1262 

Narnia : The Land That Jack Built Donna Bowling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 

Learning Native American Culture Jane Mouttet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6 

Key to Reviews . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9 

Picture Book Reviews . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9 

Children’s Fiction Reviews . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13 

Children’s Nonfiction Reviews . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17 

YA Fiction Reviews . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23 

YA Nonfiction Reviews . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29 

Adult Fiction Reviews . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31 

Adult Nonfiction Reviews . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .37 

Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .41 

C H R I S T I A N L I B R A R Y J O U R N A L 1 S E P T E M B E R 2 0 0 5

Narnia 

The Land That Jack Built 

by 

Donna W. Bowling 

In their 100 Christian Books That Changed 

the Century, William and Randy Petersen 

selected only the three children's titles— 

among them, The Chronicles of Narnia, by 

C. S. Lewis [CLJ 9, 3:8-11 (Nov. 2004)]. 

(Clive Staples Lewis was known to his 

friends as Jack.) Now more than fifty years 

since the series first appeared, a major 

movie of The Lion, the Witch, and the 

Wardrobe, the first book published in the 

series, is scheduled for release this 

December. With the anticipated release of 

the movie, a number of new books about 

the Narnia series have appeared, each 

bringing a different and often useful 

perspective. Other older titles have 

received new attention. 

Most of these books about Narnia are 

designed to be read by students or adults 

only after they have finished reading the 

stories themselves--to be appreciated as 

stories, and not dissected for hidden 

meanings. Although after 1994, the Narnia 

books have been re-ordered in the series 

according to Narnian chronology, I agree 

with several scholars listed below, that a 

first reading should begin with The Lion, 

the Witch, and the Wardrobe, the first 

Narnia book written by C. S. Lewis. The 

earlier review of the series in Christian 

Library Journal lists both the date of reordering 

and the dates of original 

publication of the individual books [CLJ 9, 

2:24-25 (Aug. 2004)]. 

Several scholars have pointed out that there 

were a few textual variations between the 

original British editions and the (slightly 

later) original American editions of the 

various books in the series. E.g.: the name 

of the wolf who was the White Witch's 

Chief of Secret Police was changed from 

Maugrim in the original British edition to 

Fenris Ulf for the American edition. Since 

1994, the text for new printings world-wide 

has reverted to that of the original British 

editions. Americans familiar with the older 

edition may be puzzled by the unfamiliar 

name of Maugrim as used in the movie. 

* 

The complete chronicles of Narnia / C.S. 

Lewis ; with illustrations hand-colored by 

the artist, Pauline Baynes. LCCN 

2001266506. New York : HarperCollins, 

2000. 

HBB, 60281375, list price: $50.00. 

Fic. Fantasy. 524 p. : ill. ; 29 cm.. 

All ages. Rating : *5. 

This handsome one-volume edition of The 

Chronicles of Narnia includes a personal 

introduction by Douglas Gresham, stepson of 

C. S. Lewis. The titles are arranged in order of 

Narnian chronology, beginning with The 

Magician's Nephew, rather than in order of 

original publication. For personal reading, the 

individual books are more convenient. 

However, this combined edition, with all but 

one of her original black and white illustrations 

now hand-colored by Pauline Baynes, makes a 

delightful coffee table book, useful for 

browsing or handy reference. Highly 

recommended for Narnia fans. 

--- 

Into the wardrobe : C.S. Lewis and the 

Narnia chronicles / David C. Downing. 

LCCN 2005013177. San Francisco : 

Jossey-Bass, 2005. 

HBB, 0787978906, list price: $19.95. 

823/.912. Lewis, C. S. (Clive Staples), 1898-1963. 

Chronicles of Narnia; Fantasy fiction, English-- 

History and criticism; Narnia (Imaginary place); 

Children's stories, English--History and criticism; 

Christian fiction, English--History and criticism. 

xvii, 238 p. ; 23 cm.. 

Adult. Rating : 5. 

Dr. Downing is a professor of English at 

Elizabethtown College and the author of a 

number of books and articles on C. S. Lewis. 

This work includes chapters on: The child as 

father of the man, The life of C. S. Lewis, The 

genesis of Narnia, The spiritual vision of the 

Narnia Chronicles, Moral psychology, Classical 

and medieval elements, What's in a Narnian 

name?, Lewis's literary artistry, an appendix 

with definitions, allusions, and textual notes, 

followed by bibliography, and index. 

Downing's expertise about Lewis, and his 

literary and spiritual insight, make him a widely 

respected scholar, but this work dealing with all 

of the Chronicles is accessible to interested high 

school students and the general reader. Highly 

recommended for church and public libraries 

and fans of the works of C. S. Lewis. 

S E P T E M B E R 2 0 0 5 2 C H R I S T I A N L I B R A R Y J O U R N A L 

--- 

Not-a-tame lion : unveil Narnia through 

the eyes of Lucy, Peter, and other 

characters created by C. S. Lewis / Bruce 

L. Edwards. LCCN 2005011083. 

Wheaton, Ill. : Tyndale House, 2005. 

PAP, 1414303815, list price: $12.99. 


Chronicles of Narnia; Narnia (Imaginary place); 

Fantasy fiction, English--History and criticism; 

Christianity and literature--England--History--20th 

century; Children's stories, English--History and 

criticism; Christian fiction, English--History and 

criticism. xx, 252 p. ; 21 cm.. 


Dr. Edwards is a professor at Bowling Green 

State University in Ohio, and has spoken at 

many conferences and written books about C. 

S. Lewis. His subtitle reveals his approach: 

Unveil Narnia through the eyes of Lucy, Peter, 

and other characters created by Lewis. Specific 

topics in this book about all the Chronicles 

include: Discerning the spiritual world of 

Narnia; Inklings of Neverland: C. S. Lewis and 

the origins of Narnia; Encountering Aslan: the 

danger of goodness; Valor finds validation: 

reigning with Aslan; Victory over vanity: 

transformation and revivals; Villainy meets 

viciousness: witches, traitors, and betrayers; 

Vindication and valediction: last battles, last 

words. The epilogue, After Narnia, includes an 

amusing but perceptive imaginary dialogue 

between Edwards and Lewis dealing with 

burning questions of this century. Following an 

annotated Suggested reading list is a detailed 

chapter-by chapter study guide. Accessible to 

interested high school students as well as the 

general reader, and definitely recommended for 

church and public libraries and fans of the 

works of C. S. Lewis. 

--- 

The heart of The chronicles of Narnia : 

knowing God here by finding him there / 

Thomas Williams. LCCN 2005006154. 

Nashville : W Pub. Group, 2005. 

PAP, 0849904889, list price: $13.99. 


Chronicles of Narnia; God in literature; Narnia 

(Imaginary place); Spiritual life in literature; Fantasy 

fiction, English--History and criticism; Children's 

stories, English--History and criticism; Christian 

fiction, English--History and criticism. xxii, 199 p. ; 

22 cm.. 


Tom Williams is both an acclaimed author and 

an illustrator. He approaches the Chronicles, 

not as a puzzle to be solved, but as a flower to 

be enjoyed. His subtitle announces his main 

focus and his chapter titles reveal his emphases.

Part 1: The story of Narnia includes—Not a 

tame lion: the truth about God; The song of 

Aslan: the creation of Narnia; Mammals, 

mountains, and muffins: the pleasures and 

wonders of creation; Bad magic: the invasion of 

evil; Turkish delight: temptation and sin; Deep 

magic before time: the defeat of death; Romping 

with the lion: fun, happiness, and joy. Part 2: 

Living like a Narnian includes—Slaying the 

dragon inside: kicking the sin habit; Follow the 

signs: knowing God's will and doing it; Asking 

Aslan: the puzzle of prayer; Aslan on the move: 

the mystery of providence; Flying your flag: the 

committed company; The blind dwarfs: faith 

and sight. Part 3: The end and the beginning 

includes—Beyond the shadowlands: the 

supernatural parallel world; Further up and 

further in: a glimpse into Heaven; Longing for 

Aslan: the object of all desire. Each chapter 

closes with pertinent thought-provoking 

questions for discussion that relate to Christian 

experience today. The extensive endnotes 

include many quotations from various works by 

Lewis and other authors, and many Scripture 

references. Williams's portrayal of God, as 

illustrated by Aslan, leaves an inviting 

fragrance. This work also is accessible to 

interested high school students as well as the 

general reader, and is highly recommended for 

church and public libraries and fans of the works 

of C. S. Lewis. 

--- 

The way into Narnia : a reader's guide / 

Peter J. Schakel. LCCN 2005049830. 

Grand Rapids : Wm. B. Eerdmans, 2005. 

PAP, 0802829848, list price: $14.00. 




Christian fiction, English--History and criticism; 

Children's stories, English--History and criticism. x, 

202 p. ; 23 cm.. 


Dr. Schakel is a professor of English at Hope 

College, and a widely respected student of the 

works of C. S. Lewis. Using the "man as subcreator" 

concept of Lewis's friend J. R. R. 

Tolkien, Schakel looks at the Chronicles 

individually, in order of publication. Chapters 

are: The story-maker and his stories; 

Controversies over texts and reading order; The 

storytelling: fairy tale, fantasy, and myth; Magic 

and meaning in The Lion, the Witch and the 

Wardrobe; Believing and seeing in Prince 

Caspian; Longing and learning in The Voyage of 

the Dawn Treader; Freedom and obedience in 

The Silver Chair; Place and personal identity in 

The Horse and His Boy; Endings and 

beginnings in The Magician's Nephew; Endings 

and transcendings in The Last Battle; The stories 

told: fairy-land and its effects. A valuable 

separate section of annotations (more extensive 

than Downing's above), arranged by books in 

order of publication, notes differences between 

the British and American editions, along with 

definitions of unfamiliar terms and comments 

about allusions to other works. The section on 

sources and endnotes includes the locations of 

each of the many direct quotations. Includes a 

lengthy bibliography and index. Again, this 

work is accessible to interested high school 

students as well as the general reader, and is 

highly recommended for church and public 

libraries and fans of the works of C. S. Lewis. 

--- 

The world according to Narnia : Christian 

meaning in C.S. Lewis's beloved 

chronicles / Jonathan Rogers. LCCN 

2005015960. New York : Warner Books, 

2005. 

PAP, 0446696498, list price: $14.99. 







criticism. xix, 182 p. ; 20 cm.. 


Dr. Rogers brings a unique perspective as an 

author of his own fantasy-adventure novel 

series. He arranges his chapters on the 

individual books in order of their original 

publication. Chapter titles are—Imagining 

reality; Reality you could not have guessed: The 

Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe; Myth 

became fact: Prince Caspian; Finding self, 

forgetting self: The Voyage of the Dawn 

Treader; Remembering the signs: The Silver 

Chair; Up from slavery: The Horse and His 

Boy; Adventurer and magician: The Magician's 

Nephew; Further up and further in: The Last 

Battle. Includes a short bibliography and 

endnotes. Less detailed than other books above, 

this work also is accessible to interested high 

school students as well as the general reader, and 

is recommended for church libraries and fans of 

the works of C. S. Lewis. 

Finding God in the land of Narnia / Kurt 

Bruner, Jim Ware. LCCN 2003024945. 

Wheaton, Ill. : Tyndale House, 2004. 

HBB, 084238104X, list price: $12.99. 

823/.912. Lewis, C.S. (Clive Staples), 1898-1963. 

Chronicles of Narnia; Lewis, C.S. (Clive Staples), 

1898-1963--Religion; Christianity and literature-- 

England--History--20th century; Christian fiction, 

English--History and criticism; Fantasy fiction, 

English--History and criticism; Narnia (Imaginery 

place). xix, 185 p. ; 20 cm.. 


Kurt Bruner is an executive with Focus on the 

Family; Jim Ware is a seminary graduate and the 

author of several books. As in their earlier title, 

Finding God in The Lord of the Rings [CLJ 8, 

2:2-4 (Apr. 2003)], Bruner and Ware offer a 

series of twenty-six meditations on the various 

Chronicles of Narnia, including at least two 

meditations from each book. Beginning with 

The Magician's Nephew, each meditation begins 

with a short quotation, followed by a situation 

from the specific book which illustrates its 

theme relating to Christian experience. The 

discussion of a related scripture concludes with 

a summary one-sentence "Reflection." Bruner 

and Ware have occasionally expanded slightly 

on original text by Lewis, but their book has a 

smooth, seamless style that reaches the heart. 

Includes a short bibliography and endnotes. 

Recommended for Christian school and church 

libraries, and the personal libraries of Lewis 

fans. 

--- 

Aslan's call : finding our way to Narnia / 

Mark Eddy Smith. LCCN 2004029840. 

Downer's Grove, Ill. : InterVarsity Press, 

2005. 

PAP, 0830832424, list price: $10.00. 


Chronicles of Narnia; God in literature; Narnia 

(Imaginary place); Spiritual life in literature; Fantasy 

fiction, English--History and criticism; Children's 


fiction, English--History and criticism. 127 p. ; 21 

cm.. 


Writer-artist Mark Eddy Smith is the author of 

Tolkien's Ordinary Virtues [CLJ 8, 2:2-4 (Apr. 

2003)]. In this first-person interaction with the 

Chronicles of Narnia, he looks at each of the 

seven books, in order of publication. For each 

book, he takes a few key events to draw 

applications to our Christian lives, with related 

references to Scriptural passages or incidents. 

In his Afterword, Smith adds a short story, 

"Playing Narnia," about a reluctant grandmother 

who first encounters Narnia at the 

recommendation of her grandson and finds it 

changes her outlook on life. A section on 

Reflection and discussion questions for each 

chapter appears at the end of the book. 

Recommended for Christian school and church 

libraries, and the personal libraries of Lewis 

fans. 

--- 

Inside Narnia : a guide to exploring The 

lion, the witch, and the wardrobe / Devin 

Brown. LCCN 2005013043. Grand 

Rapids : Baker Books, 2005. 

PAP, 0801065992, list price: $12.99. 


The lion, the witch, and the wardrobe; Narnia 

(Imaginary place); Fantasy fiction, English--History 

and criticism; Christian fiction, English--History and 

criticism; Children's stories, English--History and 

criticism. 255 p. ; 22 cm.. 


Dr. Brown is a professor of English at Asbury 

College, where he teaches a course on the fiction 

of C. S. Lewis. Using all the chapter titles from 

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe [LWW], 

Brown discusses each chapter in detail, going 

through the chapter from beginning to end. 

Brown comments on foreshadowing and 

references within LWW, relevant connections to 

other books in the series, related other writings 

by C. S. Lewis or other authors, observations 

about specific illustrations by Pauline Baynes. 


He also occasionally addresses theological or 

spiritual issues suggested by some analogies to 

Christian truth found in the story. The closing 

bibliography includes titles by many other 

Lewis scholars. Although highly detailed, this 

work is accessible to the interested general 

reader, and is recommended for church and 

public libraries and fans of the works of C. S. 

Lewis. 

--- 

Areaders' guide through the wardrobe : 

exploring C.S. Lewis's classic story / 

Leland Ryken and Marjorie Lamp Mead. 

LCCN 2005012002. Downers Grove, Ill. : 

InterVarsity, 2005. 

PAP, 0830832890, list price: $13.00. 


Lion, the witch, and the wardrobe; Narnia (Imaginary 

place); Fantasy fiction, English--History and criticism; 


Children's stories, English--History and criticism. 192 

p. : ill. ; 21 cm.. 


Dr. Ryken is professor of English at Wheaton 

College in Illinois. Wheaton is the home of the 

Marion E. Wade Center which houses a major 

research collection of materials related to C. S. 

Lewis and other related British authors. Coauthor 

Marjorie Lamp Mead is associate 

director of the Wade Center. Part one of this 

book could serve as a course in literary analysis, 

using LWW as the example text to be studied. 

Chapter titles correspond to the individual 

chapters in LWW, each with a subtitle that 

reveals the literary focus for that study—How 

the story began; Discovering more about a 

strange world; Characterization; Archetypes; 

How real is Narnia?; Worldmaking and the 

storyteller's art; The good place motif; Images of 

good; Images of evil; What readers like best in a 

story; The dynamics of the plot; The romance 

genre; The uses of magic; Parallels to the 

Passion story; The genre of fairy tale; The role 

of myth; The happy ending as narrative pattern 

and spiritual reality; Retrospective: Putting it all 

together. Following a photo section with 

pictures from Lewis's life, part two includes— 

How the Narnian books came to be; Reception 

history of LWW; The Christian vision of LWW; 

A brief biography of C. S. Lewis; and a 

Appendix: What is the correct order in which to 

read the Chronicles of Narnia? Most chapters 

include one or more boxed sections with 

thoughts for reflection or discussion. Other 

boxed sections include relevant quotations by 

Lewis or other writers, or special information 

that adds light on something in the chapter. This 

unique and valuable book closes with a list of 

recommended reading titles, endnotes, and an 

index. It is highly recommended for church and 

public libraries and fans of the works of C. S. 

Lewis. 

--- 

The soul of The lion, the witch, and the 

wardrobe / Gene Edward Veith. LCCN 

2005015803. Colorado Springs : Victor 

Books, 2005. 

HBB, 0781442125, list price: $19.99. 



place); Fantasy fiction, English--History and criticism; 


Children's stories, English--History and criticism. 240 

p. ; 24 cm.. 


Dr. Veith is a former professor of English and 

the author of a number of books. Part one: The 

story is basically a commentary on LWW with 

reference to other books in the series and related 

Scripture passages. Chapter titles and subtitles 

reveal Veith's focus—Narnia: Creation and subcreation; 

Sons of Adam and daughters of Eve: 

Human nature in two worlds; The White Witch; 

The reign of the Devil; Aslan: The Lion of 

Judah; The stone table: Atonement, redemption, 

justification; The battle: Sanctification and the 

Holy Spirit; Coming back home: The spiritual 

journey. 

Part two addresses the issue of The fantasy wars. 

Chapter titles are—Christianity and fantasy; The 

lion and the muggles; The anti-Lewis and the 

anti-Narnia series; The lion and the senile old 

man; Conclusion: The gospel through stories. 

Although Veith expresses some concerns about 

the popular Harry Potter series, he focuses 

mainly on the His Dark Materials series by 

Philip Pullman. Widely acclaimed in some 

circles, Pullman openly expresses his distaste 

for both Christianity and Narnia, and pictures 

God as a senile old man. Veith alerts his readers 

to both the special values fantasy can offer, and 

the dangers fantasy can present, depending on 

the authors. A reader's guide section at the end 

of the volume provides questions for reflection 

or group discussion. Includes detailed endnotes, 

bibliography, and index. This contribution also 

is accessible to interested high school students 

as well as the general reader, and is 

recommended for church libraries, fans of the 

works of C. S. Lewis, and those interested in 

fantasy issues. 

--- 

Walking through the wardrobe : a 

devotional quest into The lion, the witch, 

and the wardrobe / Sarah Arthur. LCCN 

2005015901. Wheaton, Ill. : Tyndale 

House, 2005. 

PAP, 1414307667, list price: $9.99. 


The lion, the witch, and the wardrobe; Children's 


fiction, English--History and criticism; Fantasy fiction, 

English--History and criticism; Quests (Expeditions) 

in literature; Narnia (Imaginery place). xxiii, 189 p. ; 

20 cm.. 

Grades 7-12. Rating : 3. 

Sarah Arthur has written other works for young 

adults, including Walking with Frodo and 

Walking with Bilbo. In this devotional book she 

offers a pair of meditations relating to each of 

nine persons for "Walking with"—Lucy: Never 

too old, and Come and see; The Professor: The 

master teacher, and The trilemma; Susan: 

Uncommon sense, and Safety first?; Edmund: 

Seeing is not believing, and The breaking point; 

Peter: Heart's desire, and The weight of 

kingship; Narnians: To the rescue, and Good 

news; The White Witch (or not?): True hunger, 

and Deep "Magic;" Aslan: The great thaw, and 

Deeper "Magic; Lewis: The open door, and 

Further in. Also included are—Glossary of 

terms & fun facts, Guide to other works by C. S. 

Lewis, and endnotes. Appropriate for church or 

Christian school libraries or fans of the works of 

C. S. Lewis. 

--- 

Knowing Aslan / Thomas Williams. 

LCCN 2005015816. Nashville : W Pub. 

Group, 2005. 

PAP, 0849904943, list price: $2.99. 

823/.912. Lewis, C.S. (Clive Staples), 1898-1963. 

Chronicles of Narnia; Fantasy fiction, English-- 

History and criticism; Narnia (Imaginery place); God 

in literature; Children's stories, English--History and 


criticism. iii, 59 p. ; 18 cm.. 

Grades 7-Adult. Rating : 3. 

This little booklet by Tom Williams uses events 

in the story or movie of The Lion, the Witch, and 

the Wardrobe as an opportunity to challenge 

some common unflattering misconceptions 

about the person of God. Designed to be 

purchased in bulk and given away as an 

evangelistic tool, it lacks the special values for 

Christians offered by Williams's more extensive 

work listed above. Although beneficial for 

individual use with young people or adults, its 

primary use for libraries is as an example of 

evangelistic literature or for personal outreach. 

--- 

Narnia beckons : C.S. Lewis's The lion, 

the witch and the wardrobe and beyond / 

Ted Baehr, James Baehr ; with 

illustrations by Angela West. Nashville : 

Broadman & Holman, 2005. 

HBB, 0805440429, list price: $24.99. 







criticism. 184 p. : ill. ; 212 x 26 cm.. 

All ages. Rating : 4. 

Dr. Ted Baehr is a media expert [CLJ 5 2/3:90- 

01 (Winter/Spg. 1999)] who participated in the 

production of the 1980 CBS animated TV 

version of The Lion, the Witch, and the 

Wardrobe. James Baehr is a graduate of 

Dartmouth College who has studied the literary 

works of C. S. Lewis at Oxford University. The 

Baehrs bring together contributions from several 

students of the works of Lewis, both in the 

original print forms and later in other media, in 

this special coffee table book. It includes many 

photographs from the life of C. S. Lewis, 

S E P T E M B E R 2 0 0 5 4 C H R I S T I A N L I B R A R Y J O U R N A L

supplemented by lush original black-and-white 

drawings by Angela West that appear on every 

page or two. (Some drawings reappear in the 

book from time to time as they relate to the text.) 

Contributors discuss characters and incidents 

from other books in the series, work on the life 

of C. S. Lewis, and recent development of the 

major movie. This elegant book is accessible to 

interested readers of all ages, and is definitely 

recommended for all libraries and fans of the 

works of C. S. Lewis 

Roar! : a Christian family guide to the 

Chronicles of Narnia / by Heather Kopp 

with David Kopp ; illustrations by Martin 

French. Sisters, Ore. : Multnomah, 2005. 

PAP, 1590525361, list price: $19.99. 



place); Children's stories, English--History and 


criticism; Fantasy fiction, English--History and 

criticism. 447 p. : ill. ; 23 cm.. 

All ages. Rating : 5. 

As writers and editors, the Kopps have written 

widely for Christian parents and their children. 

Their Roar! is designed as an interactive tool for 

Christian parents to use with their children. 

Christian school teachers also may find valuable 

ideas for classroom use. Beginning with The 

Magician's Nephew, the authors take two pages 

for each chapter of each book in the Chronicles 

of Narnia, where they provide: a one sentence 

summary of the chapter, vocabulary of 

unfamiliar terms, a paragraph of "grown-up 

thoughts," and a series of "let's talk about it" 

discussion questions and related Scriptures to 

use with children. Occasional "Kid's tests" and 

two-page inserts with suggestions for hands-on 

activities maintain involvement for the whole 

family. (Although these activities are primarily 

designed for children, their content remains 

relevant for all ages.) After dealing in this brief 

fashion with all seven books, a section of "final 

exams" for adults and little ones is followed by 

a section with ten essays by various noted 

contributors for "help & inspiration for parents" 

with potentially problematic issues. The final 

"fact files" section includes—Guide to what 

happened when in Narnia, Glossary of difficult 

& unfamiliar words, Index of characters & 

creatures (and creatures who are characters!), 

Index of places in Narnia, Index of Bible 

allusions & parallels, All the answers to all the 

questions, plus bibliography. (The quiz sections 

here provide more, and sometimes more 

reflective, questions than in Lindskoog's 

excellent Journey into Narnia [CLJ 5, 4:87 (Fall 

2000)]. The biblical allusions here do not 

duplicate those in Ditchfield's A Family Guide 

to Narnia [CLJ 9, 1:60-61 (Apr.2004)].) The 

vigorous full-color illustrations by French make 

much use of shadow and vividly convey motion, 

although the "extraneous" decorations in certain 

backgrounds may be confusing to some 

children. The Kopps also provide additional 

resources in . 

This unique book is highly recommended for 

Christian school, church, and public libraries 

and fans of the works of C. S. Lewis. 

Step into Narnia : a journey through The 

lion, the witch, and the wardrobe / by E.J. 

Kirk. (Narnia.) LCCN 2005002656. New 

York : HarperCollins, 2005. 

HBB, 0060572132, list price: $19.99. 


Lion, the witch, and the wardrobe--Juvenile literature- 

-Juvenile literature; Children's stories, English-- 

History and criticism--Juvenile literature; Fantasy 

fiction, English--History and criticism--Juvenile 

literature; Narnia (Imaginary place)--Juvenile 

literature. 63 p. : col. Ill., col. Maps ; 26 cm.. 


Author E. J. Kirk has collaborated with graphic 

designers from "jacob packaged goods LLC" 

(Ellen Jacobs, et al) who have used computer 

illustration and composition to combine art and 

photography from various sources, and a variety 

of type, to produce this dramatic full-color 

picture-book introduction to The Lion, the Witch 

and the Wardrobe. More of a reference guide 

than a storybook, it uses two or more pages 

when needed as it proceeds through the story by 

topics—What happens when; Heroes; Aslan; 

Friends and helpers; Wanted: White Witch; 

Creature features; Caves to castles; Battles; 

Powerful magic. Even in this unusual format, 

the main elements of the plot of LWW manage 

to come through. The final pages include a few 

photos from the upcoming movie. Perceptive 

children will note that the illustrations of 

characters used in most of the book sometimes 

differ with those from the movie. Given the 

unique approach in this striking book, it is 

recommended for Christian school and public 

libraries and fans of the works of C. S. Lewis 

The world of Narnia collection / adapted 

from C.S. Lewis ; illustrated by Deborah 

Maze. New York : HarperCollins, 2004. 

HBB,0060732741, list price: $9.99 CBC; out of print. 

E. Fantasy. 1 v. (unpaged) : col. ill. ; 29 cm.. 

Grades K-4. Rating : 3. 

An attractive full-color picture-book adaptation 

of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe that 

was originally published as four separate picture 

books: Lucy Steps Through the Wardrobe, 

Edmund and the White Witch, Aslan, and Aslan's 

Triumph. Each of the later sections of this 

combined edition begins at the beginning of the 

story, briefly brings the story up-to-date, and 

proceeds with the next episodes of the longer 

story. The last section provides a conclusion 

that is faithful to the original. While this 

version, adapted by an unidentified author, is 

much shorter than Lewis's original, but it retains 

much of the text by Lewis, and it includes the 

major elements of the plot consistent with his 

original story. Pleasant full-color illustrations 

by Deborah Maze are realistic in style and 

compatible with the illustrations by Pauline 

Baynes in the original book. Framed text boxes 

appear within each two-page spread. 

Many children as young as five can understand 

and appreciate the full story as originally written 

by Lewis. Some younger children may find that 

the shorter sections in this picture book, read at 

separate times, fit their attention spans better. 

Children who know and love the longer story 

may enjoy refreshing their memories by leafing 

through the pictures in this attractive book. 

Appropriate for church and some school 

libraries that also have the original book 

available. (Although the publisher no longer 

lists this title in print, it is available through 

Christian Book Distributors and other outlets— 

at an inviting price for the fine quality of this 

book.) 

Additional books about Narnia scheduled for 

a later issue. In the meantime, enjoy! 

References: 

Arthur, Sarah. Walking with Frodo. Tyndale 

House, 2003. 

Arthur, Sarah. Walking with Bilbo. Tyndale 

House, 2005. 

Baehr, Ted. The Media-Wise Family. 

ChariotVictor, 1998. 

Ditchfield, Christin. A Family Guide to 

Narnia : Biblical Truths in C. S. Lewis's The 

Chronicles of Narnia. Crossway, 2003. 

Lindskoog, Kathryn. Journey into Narnia. 

Hope Publishing House, 1998. 

Petersen, William J. & Petersen, Randy. 100 

Christian Books That Changed the Century. 

Revell, 2000. 


Learning Native American Culture 

Through Series Books 

The next section looks at non fiction series about Native American 

people groups. It is my hope that this section will guide you as you 

* 

The Cherokee : an independent nation / 

by Anne M. Todd. (American Indian 

nations.) LCCN 2002002653. Mankato, 

Minn. : Bridgestone Books, 2003. 

HBB, 0736813551, list price: $17.95. 

975.004/9755. Indians of North America--Southern 

States; Cherokee Indians. 48 p. : col. ill. ; 24 cm.. 

The Cheyenne : hunter-gatherers of the 

northern plains / by Mary Englar. 

(American Indian nations.) LCCN 

2002156006. Mankato, Minn. : 

Bridgestone Books, 2004. 

HBB, 0736821783, list price: $17.95. 

978.004/973. Indians of North America--Southern 

States; Cherokee Indians. 48 p. : col. ill. ; 24 cm.. 

The Chumash : seafarers of the Pacific 

Coast / by Karen Bush Gibson. 


2002156007. Mankato, Minn. : 


HBB, 0736821791, list price: $17.95. 

979.4004/9757. Indians of North America-- 

California; Chumash Indians. 48 p. : col. ill. ; 24 

cm.. 

The Comanche : nomads of the southern 

plains / by Mary Englar. (American 

Indian nations.) LCCN 2002156008. 

Mankato, Minn. : Bridgestone Books, 

2004. 

HBB, 0736821805, list price: $17.95. 

978.004/9745. Indians of North America--Great 

Plains; Indians of North America--Southwest, New; 

Comanche Indians. 48 p. : col. ill. ; 24 cm.. 

The Iroquois : the Six Nations 

Confederacy / by Mary Englar. 


2002000965. Mankato, Minn. : 


HBB, 0736821353, list price: $17.95. 

974.004/9755. Indians of North America--Canada, 

Eastern; Indians of North America--New York 

(State); Iroquois Indians. 48 p. : col. ill. ; 24 cm.. 

The Ojibwa : people of the Great Lakes / 

by Anne M. Todd. (American Indian 




977.004/973. Indians of North America--Great Lakes 

(North America); Ojibwa Indians. 48 p. : col. ill. ; 24 

cm.. 

by Jane Mouttet 

The Pawnee : farmers and hunters of the 

central plains / by Karen Bush Gibson. 


2002156009. Mankato, Minn. : 


HBB, 0736821813, list price: $17.95. 

978.004/979. Indians of North America--Southwest, 

New; Pawnee Indians. 48 p. : col. ill. ; 24 cm.. 

The Pueblo : farmers of the Southwest / 

by Mary Englar. (American Indian 



HBB, 0736813578, list price: $17.95. 

978.9004/974. Indians of North America--Great 

Plains; Pueblo Indians. 48 p. : col. ill. ; 24 cm.. 

The Seminole : the first people of Florida 

/ by Mary Englar. (American Indian 



HBB, 0736813586, list price: $17.95. 

975.9004/973. Seminole Indians--Juvenile literature; 

Seminole Indians; Indians of North America-- 

Southern states. 48 p. : col. ill. ; 24 cm.. 

The Sioux : people of the great plains / by 

Anne Todd. (American Indian nations.) 

LCCN 2002002655. Mankato, Minn. : 


HBB, 0736813543, list price: $17.95. 

978.004/9752. Dakota Indians--History--Juvenile 

literature; Dakota Indians--Social life and customs-- 

Juvenile literature; Dakota Indians; Indians of North 

America--Great Plains. 48 p. : ill. (some col.), col. 

map ; 24 cm.. 

Grades 3-8. Rating : *5. 

There are sixteen titles in the American Indian 

Nations series. Each book contains five 

chapters on the tribe as well as extra features 

such as: maps, timelines, and recipes. A 

glossary, reading list, places to visit, internet 

sites, and an index add to the usefulness of this 

series as research. The chapters describe the 

tribe’s traditions, history, culture, religion, 

relationship to other tribes and non-natives, and 

what life is like today for the tribe. The books 

are illustrated with art work and photographs. 

Each book lists at least one consultant who is 

knowledgeable about the tribe. The series 

seems to provide accurate information. 

make purchasing decisions for your library. I included starred 

reviews for the series I would purchase first. 

S E P T E M B E R 2 0 0 5 6 C H R I S T I A N L I B R A R Y J O U R N A L 

* 

The Cherokee : native basket weavers / by 

Therese DeAngelis. (America's first 

peoples.) LCCN 2002012534. Mankato, 

Minn. : Blue Earth Books, 2003. 

HBB, 0073681535X, list price: $22.60 

978.004/973. Cherokee Indians--Juvenile literature; 

Cherokee baskets--Juvenile literature; Cherokee 

Indians; Indians of North America; Indian baskets. 

32 p. : ill. (some col.) ; 21 cm.. 

The Choctaw : stickball players of the 

south / by Rachel A. Koestler-Grack. 

(America's first peoples.) LCCN 

2003000059. Mankato, Minn. : Blue 

Earth Books, 2004. 

HBB, 0736821708, list price: $22.60 

976.004/973. Choctaw Indians--Juvenile literature; 

Choctaw Indians; Indians of North America-- 

Southern States; Ball games. 32 p. : ill. (some col.) ; 

21 cm.. 

The Inuit : ivory carvers of the Far North 

/ by Rachel A. Koestler-Grack. 




HBB, 0736821716, list price: $22.60 

971.9004/9712. Inuit--Juvenile literature; Ivory 

carving--Juvenile literature; Inuit; Eskimos; Ivory 

carving. 32 p. : ill. (some col.) ; 21 cm.. 

The Iroquois : longhouse builders / by 

Rachel A. Koestler-Grack. (America's 

first peoples.) LCCN 2002014679. 

Mankato, Minn. : Blue Earth Books, 

2003. 

HBB, 0736815368, list price: $22.60 

974.7004/9755. Iroquois Indians--Juvenile literature; 

Longhouses--Juvenile literature; Indians of North 

America--Northeastern States; Indians of North 

America--Canada, Eastern; Longhouses; Dwellings. 

32 p. : ill. (some col.) ; 21 cm.. 

The Navajo : weavers of the Southwest / 

by Therese DeAngelis. (America's first 



HBB, 0736821724, list price: $22.60 

979.1004/972. Navajo Indians--Juvenile literature; 

Navajo textile fabrics--Juvenile literature; Navajo 

Indians; Indians of North America--Southwest, New. 

32 p. : ill. (some col.) ; 21 cm..

The Ojibwa : wild rice gatherers / by 

Therese DeAngelis. (America's first 



HBB, 0736815376, list price: $22.60 

977/.004973. Ojibwa Indians--Juvenile literature; 

Wild rice--Juvenile literature; Ojibwa Indians; Indians 

of North America; Wild rice. 32 p. : ill. (some col.) ; 

21 cm.. 

The Pueblo : southwestern potters / by 

Mary Englar. (America's first peoples.) 

LCCN 2002012536. Mankato, Minn. : 

Blue Earth Books, 2003. 

HBB, 0736815384, list price: $22.60 

978.9/004974. Pueblo Indians--Juvenile literature; 

Pueblo pottery--Juvenile literature; Pueblo Indians; 

Indians of North America--Southwest, New; Pueblo 

pottery; Indian pottery. 32 p. : ill. (some col.) ; 21 

cm.. 

The Seminole : patchworkers of the 

Everglades / by Rachel A. Koestler-Grack. 




HBB, 0736815392, list price: $22.60 

975.9004/973. Seminole Indians--Juvenile literature; 

Patchwork--Juvenile literature; Seminole Indians; 

Indians of North America--Southern States; 

Patchwork. 32 p. : ill. (some col.) ; 21 cm.. 

The Shoshone : pine nut harvesters of the 

Great Basin / by Kristin Thoennes Keller. 




HBB, 0736821732, list price: $22.60 

978.004/9745. honi Indians--Food--Juvenile 

literature; Shoshoni Indians--Social life and customs-- 

Juvenile literature; Pine nuts--Juvenile literature; 

Shoshoni Indians; Indians of North America--Great 

Basin. 32 p. : ill. (some col.) ; 21 cm.. 

The Sioux : nomadic buffalo hunters / by 

Rachel A. Koestler-Grack. (America's 

first peoples.) LCCN 2002012540. 

Mankato, Minn. : Blue Earth Books, 2003. 

HBB, 0736815406, list price: $22.60 

978.004/9752. Dakota Indians--Juvenile literature; 

Dakota Indians--Hunting--Juvenile literature; 

American bison--Juvenile literature; Dakota Indians; 

Teton Indians; Indians of North America--Great 

Plains; American bison. 32 p. : ill. (some col.) ; 21 

cm.. 


America’s First Peoples is a set of ten books 

about some of the most well-known native 

American tribes. While the books focus on one 

aspect of the tribal culture; several aspects are 

touched on. Each book contains eight short 

chapters about the tribe, its history, culture, 

traditions, and life today. Each book contains a 

legend or folktale of the tribe. The books also 

contain recipes, activities, and games. A 

glossary, reference list, places to visit, internet 

sites and an index make this series useful for 

research. The book is illustrated with current 

and historic photographs. Each book in the 

series had a consultant and seems to be accurate. 

The Algonquin / by Natalie M. Rosinsky. 

(First reports.) LCCN 2004000589. 

Minneapolis : Compass Point Books, 2005. 

HBB, 0756506425, list price: $22.60 

971.3004/9733. Algonquin Indians--Social life and 

customs; Algonquin Indians--History. 48 p. : ill. 

(some col.) ; 22 cm.. 

The Hopi / by Natalie M. Rosinsky. (First 

reports.) LCCN 2004000590. 


HBB, 0756506417, list price: $22.60 

979.1004/97458. Hopi Indians--Social life and 

customs; Hopi Indians--History. 48 p. : ill. (some 

col.) ; 22 cm.. 

The Inuit / by Natalie M. Rosinsky. (First 

reports.) LCCN 2004000591. 


HBB, 0756506409, list price: $22.60 

971.9004/9712. Inuit--Social life and customs; Inuit-- 

History. 48 p. : ill. (some col.) ; 22 cm.. 


The Navajo / by Natalie M. Rosinsky. 

(First reports.) LCCN 2004000592. 


HBB, 075656433, list price: $22.60 

979.1004/9726. Navajo Indians--Social life and 

customs; Navajo Indians--History. 48 p. : ill. (some 

col.) ; 22 cm.. 

Grades 2-4. Rating : 5. There are a total 

of sixteen books in this series. The books are 

illustrated with full color photographs, historic 

photographs and artwork, and maps. The books 

seem to be accurate and understandable. 

Consultants were used in the writing of this 

series. Not all the books have the same type of 

chapter headings. Most books contain 

information on who the tribe is, their history, 

influences from outside the tribe, and what life 

is like today. Other chapters which appear in 

some of the books deal with some important 

historical event, the religious myths of the tribe, 

the work of missionaries, and information on 

how the tribe has changed over the years. The 

books close with a glossary, interesting facts, 

important dates, sources of further information, 

and an index. The series would be useful for 

beginning research projects. 

Igloos / by June Preszler. (Native 

American life.) LCCN 2004011213. 

Mankato, Minn. : Capstone Press, 2005. 


690/.8/08997. Igloos; Indians of North America-- 

Dwellings; Inuit dwellings; Igloos--Design and 

construction. 24 p. : ill. (chiefly col.) ; 21 cm.. 

Longhouses / by Karen Bush Gibson. 

(Native American life.) LCCN 

2004011214. Mankato, Minn. : Capstone 

Press, 2005. 

HBB, 0736837248, list price: $21.26 

690/.8/08997. Longhouses; Indians of North America- 

-Dwellings; Longhouses--Design and construction. 24 

p. : ill. (chiefly col.) ; 21 cm.. 

Plank houses / by Karen Bush Gibson. 

(Native American life.) LCCN 

2004011215. Mankato, Minn. : Capstone 

Press, 2005. 

HBB, 0736837256, list price: $21.26 

690/.8/08997. Indians of North America--Dwellings. 

24 p. : ill. (chiefly col.) ; 21 cm.. 

Pueblos / by June Preszler. (Native 



HBB, 0736837264, list price: $21.26 

690/.8/089974. Pueblos; Indians of North America-- 

Dwellings; Pueblos--Design and construction. 24 p. : 

ill. (chiefly col.) ; 21 cm.. 

Tepees / by June Preszler. (Native 



HBB, 0736837272, list price: $21.26 

690/.8/08997. Tipis; Indians of North America-- 

Dwellings; Tipis--Design and construction. 24 p. : ill. 

(chiefly col.) ; 21 cm.. 

Wickiups / by June Preszler. (Native 



HBB, 0736837280, list price: $21.26 

690/.8/08997. Wickiups; Indians of North America-- 

Dwellings; Wickiups--Design and construction. 24 p. 

: ill. (chiefly col.) ; 21 cm.. 


Native American Life is a new set of easy-toread 

nonfiction books about the homes of Native 

Americans. Experts were consulted in the 

writing of these books. The books share similar 

chapter headings. Chapters address: what is [the 

type of dwelling]? who lived in [this dwelling]? 

gathering materials, preparing the materials, 

building [the dwelling], inside [the dwelling], 

villages, special [dwellings]. Each chapter is 

one page of text with one page of illustrations. 

The illustrations are full color or historic 

photographs or artwork. The topics are 

discussed in a way that lower elementary 

students will be able to understand. The series 

would be good for beginning research projects 

as it has a glossary, further resources, and an 

index in each book. 

Chumash / Barbara A. Gray-Kanatiiosh. 

(Native Americans.) LCCN 2003044374. 

Edina, Minn. : Abdo Publishing, 2004. 

HBB, 1577659333, list price: $22.78 

979.4004/9757. Chumash Indians--History--Juvenile 

literature; Chumash Indians--Social life and customs-- 

Juvenile literature; Chumash Indians; Indians of North 

America--California. 32 p. : col. ill., col. maps ; 21 

cm.. 

Gabrielino / Barbara A. Gray-Kanatiiosh. 



HBB, 1577659341, list price: $22.78 

979.4004/9745. Gabrielino Indians--Juvenile 

literature; Gabrielino Indians; Indians of North 


cm.. 


Huron / Barbara A. Gray-Kanatiiosh. 




977.004/9755. Wyandot Indians--Juvenile literature; 

Wyandot Indians--Social life and customs--Juvenile 

literature; Indians of North America. 32 p. : col. ill., 

col. maps ; 21 cm.. 

Mojave / Barbara A. Gray-Kanatiiosh. 



HBB, 1577659368, list price: $22.78 

979.1004/9757. Mohave Indians--History--Juvenile 

literature; Mohave Indians--Social life and customs-- 

Juvenile literature; Mohave Indians; Indians of North 

America--Arizona; Indians of North America-- 

California. 32 p. : col. ill., col. maps ; 21 cm.. 

Salinan / Barbara A. Gray-Kanatiiosh. 



HBB, 1577659376, list price: $22.78 

979.4/70049757. Salinan Indians--History--Juvenile 

literature; Salinan Indians--Social life and customs-- 

Juvenile literature; Salinan Indians; Indians of North 


cm.. 

Shawnee / Barbara A. Gray-Kanatiiosh. 



HBB, 1577659384, list price: $22.78 

974.004/973. Shawnee Indians--History--Juvenile 

literature; Shawnee Indians--Social life and customs-- 

Juvenile literature; Shawnee Indians; Indians of North 

America--East (U.S.). 32 p. : col. ill., col. maps ; 21 

cm.. 

Shoshone / Barbara A. Gray-Kanatiiosh. 



HBB, 1577659392, list price: $22.78 

978.004/9745. Shoshoni Indians--History--Juvenile 

literature; Shoshoni Indians--Social life and customs-- 

Juvenile literature; Shoshoni Indians; Indians of North 

America--West (U.S.). 32 p. : col. ill., col. maps ; 21 

cm.. 

Ute / Barbara A. Gray-Kanatiiosh. 



HBB, 1577659406, list price: $22.78 

979.004/9745. Ute Indians--History--Juvenile 

literature; Ute Indians--Social life and customs-- 

Juvenile literature; Ute Indians; Indians of North 

America--Colorado; Indians of North America--New 

Mexico. 32 p. : col. ill., col. maps ; 21 cm.. 

Wampanoag / Barbara A. Gray- 

Kanatiiosh. (Native Americans.) LCCN 

2003040339. Edina, Minn. : Abdo 

Publishing, 2004. 

HBB, 1577659414, list price: $22.78 

974.4004/973. Wampanoag Indians--History-- 

Juvenile literature; Wampanoag Indians--Social life 

and customs--Juvenile literature; Wampanoag Indians; 

Indians of North America--New England. 32 p. : col. 

ill., col. maps ; 21 cm.. 

Yokut / Barbara A. Gray-Kanatiiosh. 



HBB, 1577659422, list price: $22.78 

979.4004/9741. Yokuts Indians--History--Juvenile 

literature; Yokuts Indians--Social life and customs-- 

Juvenile literature; Yokuts Indians; Indians of North 


cm.. 


This series of books is written and illustrated by 

members of the Akwesasne Mohawk tribe. The 

series includes some little-known tribes. Each 

book has similar layout and chapter titles: 

Where they lived, Society, Food, Homes, 

Clothing, Crafts, Family, Children, Myths, War, 

Contact with Europeans, an important member 

of the tribe, and tribal life today. Each book 

ends with a glossary and index. Each chapter is 

two pages in length. Abdo publishing also has 

links on their web site to more information 

about the tribe. Photographs and flat drawings 

illustrate the text. 

Jane Mouttet worked for twenty years as a school 

librarian on the Navajo Reservation. She would 

enjoy hearing from you on how these columns 

have helped you and on how you use children’s 

literature to teach Native American Culture. 

Jane can be reached at 

jane@nativeamericanchildrenslit.com. 

S E P T E M B E R 2 0 0 5 8 C H R I S T I A N L I B R A R Y J O U R N A L

BOOK REVIEWS PICTURE BOOKS 

An angel came to Nazareth / by Anthony 

Knott ; illustrated by Maggie Kneen. 

LCCN 2004023258. San Francisco : 

Chronicle Books, 2005. 

HBB, 0811847985, list price: $15.95. 

E. Jesus Christ--Nativity--Fiction; Donkeys--Fiction; 

Stories in rhyme. 1 v. (unpaged) : col. ill. ; 22 cm. 

Grades PS-4. Rating : 4. 

An angel came to Nazareth 

Upon a winter’s day 

And there she spied four animals 

At breakfast on the hay. 

Camel, donkey, horse, and ox, 

Just one beast from the stall 

Will carry into Bethlehem 

The greatest of them all. 

LCCN Library of Congress 

Cataloging Number 

C Canadian Library Cataloging 

Number 

ISBN International Standard Book 

Number 

So begins An Angel Came to Nazareth, written 

by Anthony Knott. This beautiful and sweet 

book promotes Jesus Christ as the world’s 

greatest gift. The details differ from the 

traditional Christmas story, as the book 

introduces the soldier, the wiseman, the 

Samaritan, and Mary, all needing a transport for 

their various journeys. Four animals ponder 

which person might be the most important; they 

select riders, with the donkey choosing last. The 

reader learns that the donkey 

carried Mary gently 

and brought her to this stall 

where Jesus Christ her child is born 

the greatest of them all. 

When we see the shepherds, it is as Mary quietly 

approaches Bethlehem, and they help point the 

R A T I N G S Y S T E M 

* Outstanding quality 

5 Excellent quality 

4 Very good quality 

3 Good quality 

Recommended with caution - note reservations within the review 

Not recommended - note problems stated within the review 

Commonly Used Abbreviations in CLJ Reviews 

HBB Hardbound book 

PAP Paperbound book 

LIB Library edition 

LGP Large print book 

PBB Paper board book 

CAS Audiocassette 

way to the city. There is no heavenly host 

proclaiming a message to the shepherds, we 

don’t see them around the manger. 

Illustrations by Maggie Kneen are rendered in 

watercolor and gouache (a method of painting in 

which opaque watercolors are mixed with gum). 

Most pages include gold highlights and slightly 

embossed key features. For instance, the angel 

wears a gold halo and has embossed wings. 

These attractive features suggest a gift book. 

Each sturdy page is actually made of two rather 

stiff pieces of paper. 

The flowing verse and striking illustrations 

complement each other beautifully offering this 

unique perspective. The foreshadowing presents 

a neat opportunity to talk about the “other” 

journeys. Who is the soldier? the Samaritan? the 

CDR CD-ROM 

DVD Videodisc 

VID Videocassette 

LLB Loose-leaf binding 


PICTURE BOOKS 

wiseman? Here they are, side by side with the 

soon-to-be mother of Jesus. It is interesting that 

the wiseman appears at the beginning, being 

chosen by the camel. Where is he going? He 

won’t visit Jesus for quite some time. Teachers 

could have students write the stories of the other 

travelers, based on the facts they know from the 

Bible, and using imagination to fill in the blanks. 

Some may be troubled at the speculation in this 

story, or what has been left out, yet there doesn’t 

seem to be any wrong information that goes 

against the Biblical story. It would be a nice 

addition to any home, school or library 

Christmas collection. 

More details about the book are available at 

www.chroniclekids.com. 

Karen Brehmer, B.A. Teacher, Sylvan Way Christian School, 

Bremerton, Washington 

Bearcub and Mama / written by Sharon 

Jennings ; illustrated by Melanie Watt. 

C20049024779. Toronto : Kids Can, 2005. 

HBB, 1553375661, list price: $15.95. 

E. Bear cubs--Fiction; Bears--Fiction; Mother and 

child--Fiction. 1 v. (unpaged) : col. ill. ; 24 x 26 cm. 


Bearcub and Mama by Sharon Jennings is a 

reassuring story about growing up and the bond 

between mother and child. Story themes 

include feelings, being alone, relying on oneself, 

and the importance of relationships. 

Rich, luminous, full color illustrations by 

Melanie Watt are sure to captivate. Many 

children will linger as they enjoy the quality 

artwork, rendered in acrylics on canvas. 

This smyth sewn casebound book will stand up 

to many circulations in public libraries. 

Preschoolers will page through Bearcub and 

Mama for the colors, and primary grade students 

will delight in the art and storyline. Older 

children will enjoy reading it to siblings. This 

book deserves a place in every child’s library 

experience. 

Leroy Hommerding, MSL/PhD. Director, Fort Myers Beach P.L. 

District, Fort Myers, Florida. 

* 

Brave dogs, gentle dogs : how they guard 

sheep / by Cat Urbigkit. LCCN 

2004016855. Honesdale, Pa. : Boyds Mills, 

2005. 

HBB, 1590783174, list price: $15.95. 

636.737. Sheep dogs--Juvenile literature. 32 p. : col. 

ill. ; 29 cm. 

Grades K-4. Rating : *5. 

Chock full of excellent information, Brave Dog, 

Gentle Dog uses capacious colored photos and 

informative, interesting narrative to present the 

history, breeding, and training of the large sheep 

guardian dogs of the American Rocky 

Mountains. Set in the author’s home state, 

Wyoming, this book introduces the dogs and 

their puppies, and the people and sheep who 

train them. Facets of a dog’s job include total 

identification with its particular herd, protecting, 

and lamb-sitting. A closing chapter lists the 

main breeds of guardian dogs, all large, lovable, 

and professional. 

Reporter, rancher, and accomplished 

photographer, Cat Urbigkit works with the dogs 

she describes in Brave Dog, Gentle Dog. The 

engaging photographs tell the story with verve 

and empathy—what a winning combination— 

dogs and sheep, puppies and lambs. Urbrigkit’s 

narrative is simple, informing, straight to the 

point, and engrossing. Listed for grades K-2, 

readers through fourth grade would benefit from 

the important information. 

All schools and libraries will benefit from Brave 

Dogs, Gentle Dogs. It is suitable for both 

independent and group reading. Consider it for 

a gift, not only for children but also for invalids 

and nursing home residents. 

Donna J. Eggett. Freelance Writer, Radford, Virginia. 

Franklin's pond phantom / Sharon 

Jennings ; illustrated by Sasha McIntyre, 

Robert Penman, Shelley Southern. 


HBB, 1553377184, list price: $14.95. 

E. Friendship--Fiction; Turtles--Fiction; Animals-- 

Fiction; Ghosts--Fiction. 1 v. (unpaged) : col. ill. ; 23 

cm. 


Franklin and the tin flute / Sharon 

Jennings ; illustrated by Celeste Gagnon. 


HBB, 1553378088, list price: $14.95. 


Fiction. 1 v. (unpaged) : col. ill. ; 23 cm. 


Franklin's library book / Sharon Jennings 

; illustrated by Celeste Gagnon. 


HBB, 1553377125, list price: $14.95. 


Fiction; Books--Fiction. 1 v. (unpaged) : col. ill. ; 23 

cm. 


Franklin and the cookies / Sharon 

Jennings ; illustrated by Celeste Gagnon. 


HBB, 1553377168, list price: $14.95. 

E. Friendship--Fiction; Turtles--Fiction; Bears-- 

Fiction; Cookies--Fiction. 1 v. (unpaged) : col. ill. ; 

23 cm. 


Franklin and the Pond Phantom is a story about 

Franklin the turtle and his discovery of who or 

what the Pond Phantom really is. Does a big 

white monster really live in the pond? 

Franklin and the Tin Flute tells the story of how 

Franklin found an old tin flute in a box in the 

basement. Not being able to play the flute 

himself, Franklin trades it to a friend of his for a 

green marble. When Franklin’s father tells the 

family that he saw Rabbit playing a tin flute like 

the one his father once had, Franklin knows he’s 

in trouble—father is going to look for that flute! 

Can Franklin get the flute back before his dad 

discovers he traded it to Rabbit? 

In Franklin’s Library Book, Franklin borrows a 

library book on how to make a kite. When 

Franklin realizes he has lost the book, he first 

tries to find it, and then disguises himself, 

hoping to escape getting in trouble for losing it. 

Will Franklin ever find the lost library book? 

Franklin and the Cookies tells a silly story of 

Franklin and Bear baking. They are told to share 

with their sisters, but they eat all of the cookies 

themselves. How will they fix this problem? 

Kids know and love Franklin the green turtle 

from his TV show on PBS. Sharon Jennings 

authors this series. Categorized as Level 2 

readers, these can be read with help from adults 

by children with basic reading skills. Longer 

stories and bigger words are a bit more 

challenging than in Level 1 books. Lessons 

taught in the stories range from responsibility, to 

sharing, to not taking what isn’t yours. 

Recommended for children ages 4-7. 

Sherri Myers. Freelance Writer, Upper Strasburg, Pennsylvania. 

Just add one Chinese sister / by Patricia 

McMahon and Cono Clarke McCarthy ; 

illustrated by Karen A. Jerome. LCCN 

2005297922. Honesdale, Pa. : Boyds Mills, 

2005. 

HBB, 1563979896, list price: $16.95. 

E. Adopted children--Fiction; Chinese American 

children--Fiction; Intercountry adoption--United 

States--Juvenile fiction; Intercountry adoption--China- 

-Juvenile fiction; Brothers and sisters--Fiction. 1 v. 

(unpaged) : ill. ; 30 cm. 


In Just Add One Chinese Sister, the reader takes 

a personal look into one family’s quest to adopt 

a little girl from China. Told from the viewpoint 

of mother and son authors, Patricia McMahon 

recounts the details of how the adoption took 

place while Connor Clarke McCarthy journals 

his thoughts, feelings, and fears of how his life 

will change with the addition of a new sibling. 

By looking through the family scrapbook and 

Connor’s journal, they reminisce and share the 

adoption process with Claire Guan Yu, showing 

how she became a special part of their family. 

Karen Jerome’s watercolor illustrations 

complement the story as they vibrantly depict 

family snapshots and souvenirs from the 

family’s trip to China. This is a refreshing 

book, stressing the importance of family and 

acceptance of intercultural families. 

This story is ideal for children who face 

questions about adoption. It would be especially 

S E P T E M B E R E 2 0 0 5 1 0 C H R I S T I A N L I B R A R Y J O U R N A L

helpful for older siblings with varying emotions 

as they inquire about a new addition to the 

family. This book is appropriate for beginning 

and intermediate readers and would also be 

wonderful for family story-time. 

Sarah Jo Burkhead, BM. Freelance Writer, Saint Clair, Missouri. 

Legend of the Christmas stocking : an 

inspirational story of a wish come true / 

written by Rick Osborne ; illustrated by 

Jim Griffin. LCCN 2004000339. Grand 

Rapids : Zonderkidz, 2004. 

HBB, 0310708982, list price: $15.99. 

E. Christmas--Fiction; Family life--Fiction; Conduct 

of life--Fiction. 1 v. (unpaged) : col. ill. ; 24 x 29 cm. 


In New York during the early 1800s a little boy 

named Peter is saving his money for a model 

ship that he wants. He and his sisters are 

anxiously waiting for their father, a sailor, to 

return from sea in time for Christmas. Peter is 

motivated to buy gifts for his sisters instead of 

himself when he goes to church and learns about 

a godly man named Nicholas. Long ago, 

Nicholas secretly gave money to three sisters 

who were too poor to afford dowries so they 

could get married. The generous deeds of 

Nicholas inspired the current tradition of putting 

gifts in stockings. Today he is known as Saint 

Nicholas or Santa Claus. 

This is a moving story. The full color 

illustrations by Jim Griffin are in a realistic style 

and help make this a fantastic picture book. The 

Legend of the Christmas Stocking by Rick 

Osborne does more than just tell the Nicholas 

legend. Peter's sacrifice for his mother and 

sisters and his reunion with his father are 

touching. Reading this book every Christmas 

season would make a great tradition. The last 

page gives a brief historical note about Nicholas 

and the stocking and Santa Claus traditions. 

David Rainey, MLIS. State Library of Louisiana, Baton Rouge. 

The legend of the sand dollar / by Chris 

Auer ; illustrated by Rick Johnson. 

LCCN 2004000188. Grand Rapids : 

Zonderkidz, 2005. 

HBB, 03107078031, list price: $15.99. 

E. Wetlands--Fiction; Cousins--Fiction; Sand dollars-- 

Fiction; Easter--Fiction; Atlantic Coast (U.S.)--Fiction. 

1 v. (unpaged) : col. ill. ; 24 x 28 cm. 


Kerry and Jack take a motorboat to a small 

island in the ocean. The children find a sand 

dollar. Jack tells Kerry, “Sand dollars tell the 

greatest story of all.” The young lad explains 

each part of the sand dollar, “…the Easter lily on 

that side…It’s like a trumpet saying ‘Jesus is 

alive!’ There’s the star from the East that led 

wise men to Christ.” Also, “Both sides of the 

sand dollar tell the Easter story. See the four nail 

holes—and a fifth hole made by a spear? These 

remind us that Jesus died for us.” 

Chris Auer’s The Legend of the Sand Dollar: An 

Inspirational Story of Hope for Easter is a 

pleasant story stressing God’s natural world and 

good family relationships. The artwork by Rick 

Johnson is beautiful—heavy in blue, purple, 

green and tan. It is worthy to note that some 

pictures imply a lack of safety. Two children 

roar away in a small motorboat, without adult 

supervision. Neither Jack nor Kerry wear life 

jackets. In one picture, Kerry stands up in the 

boat. 

As a minor problem, Kerry describes a sand 

dollar as “a starfish that used to live in the 

ocean.” Although closely related, sand dollars 

and starfish are separate animals. 

You should find a sand dollar to accompany this 

book! Then, promote The Legend of the Sand 

Dollar among children who need to understand 

Jesus Christ as Creator. Do not limit this book 

to Easter. It is a fine story, anytime! 

Roberta Lou Jones, MDiv. Volunteer, Church Children’s Library, 

Dexter, Kentucky. 

The live bale of hay : a real Maine 

adventure / by Carol Dean ; illustrated by 

Sandy Dunn. LCCN 2004116483. 

Camden, Me. : Down East Books, 2004. 

HBB, 0892726741, list price: $15.95. 

E. Maine--Fiction.; Bears--Fiction. 1 v. (unpaged) : 

col. ill. ; 21 x 24 cm. 


Carol Shorey Dean’s second book is a winsome 

account of the excitement she experienced as a 

girl growing up in the farmlands of Maine. The 

Live Bale of Hay relates, in vivid detail, the 

breathtaking encounter Dean and a friend had 

with a black bear on a night intended simply for 

chasing fireflies. Dean does a fine job 

recreating the rural New England atmosphere in 

which she spent her childhood. Her use of 

specific detail helps the reader appreciate and 

gain insight into the life of a farming 

community. 

The Live Bale of Hay combines simplicity of 

plot and specificity of detail, helpful for children 

making the move from picture books to chapter 

books. The book introduces vocabulary and 

concepts that are not too difficult for the early 

independent reader, yet the author keeps the 

story moving at a pace that holds the reader’s 

interest. Sandra Dunn’s watercolor illustrations 

add to the book’s warmth, and are appealing to 

children both young and old. 

The Live Bale of Hay discusses topics of interest 

to kids (adventure, family, animal life) in a way 

that will hold their interest, without talking 

down to them. This may be a simple feat but it 

is one sometimes overlooked by showier books.. 

Aarik Danielsen, BS/BM. Free-lance journalist and worship leader, 

Knoxville, Tennessee. 

PICTURE BOOKS 

Molly & the Good Shepherd / by Chris 

Auer ; illustrated by Amy Wummer. 



HBB, 0310708265, list price: $12.99. 

E. Jesus Christ--Art--Fiction; Lost children--Fiction; 

School field trips--Fiction; Museums--Fiction; 

Conduct of life--Fiction. 1 v. (unpaged) : col. ill. ; 24 

x 28 cm. 


Molly and the Good Shepherd, by Chris Auer, 

opens with Molly reading John 10:14, “I am the 

good shepherd, and know my sheep, and my 

sheep know me.” The little girl is on a school 

field trip to a museum. Molly wanders among 

the statues and paintings, and she becomes lost! 

She remembers the words from her teacher, “If 

you’re lost, find an adult in uniform and ask for 

help.” The kind guard calls on his walkie-talkie, 

and announces a lost child. As Molly and the 

guard wait, they look at a famous painting of 

Jesus and sheep (painted in 1855 by Jasper F. 

Cropsey.) Molly remembers the story the 

museum guard tells about Jesus, even after she 

is reunited with her teacher. 

Prayer and trust in God are common themes in 

Molly and the Good Shepherd. The teacher 

misses Molly, and says, “a quick prayer asking 

God to protect Molly.” The teacher thinks of her 

students, “and every one belonged to the Good 

Shepherd.” 

Multiethnic pictures, by Amy Wummer, 

resemble real boys and girls. Some children 

wear glasses, others have freckles, and each 

student wears a bright red school shirt. A minor 

message involves the school mascot—a rabbit. 

Rabbits have ears. So do children. Those ears 

are for listening, and Molly needs to learn that 

lesson. 



My book of thanks / B.G. Hennessy ; 

illustrated by Hiroe Nakata. LCCN 

2001025438. Cambridge, Mass. : 

Candlewick Press, 2002. 

HBB, 0763628646, list price: $6.99. 

E or 242/.62. Gratitude; Children--Prayer books and 

devotions. 1 v. (unpaged) : col. ill. ; 22 cm. 


With direct language and color illustrations, My 

Book of Thanks is a universal prayer that shows 

even the youngest of children that they have 

much to be thankful for. A sweet, simple 

reminder to kids that they can be thankful for 

things in their everyday lives. Almost six inches 

square, it gives the impression of gift book. 

Beginning with “Dear God…” and closing with 

“Thank you for everything,” each prayer is 

balanced by a petition for help. For instance, 

one prayer gives thanks for people “who teach 

me about your world”, the petition “help me to 

listen”. 

C H R I S T I A N L I B R A R Y J O U R N A L 1 1 S E P T E M B E R 2 0 0 5

PICTURE BOOKS 

The watercolor and ink illustrations by Hiroe 

Nakata convey the content of each aspect of life 

one can be thankful for, e.g. family, travel, bodysoul-mind. 

Each idea appears on a page on white 

paper, opposite the other page with watercolor 

vignettes. This reinforced trade cover will 

protect the book from wear and tear. A positive 

aspect of the book is awareness of God 

throughout all the prayers. 



Oh, look! / Patricia Polacco. LCCN 

2003012098. New York : , 2004. 

HBB, 0399242236, list price: $16.99. 

E. Goats--Fiction; Fairs--Fiction. 1 v. (unpaged) : 

col. ill. ; 29 cm. 


Oh, Look! will be a great choice for story 

times—preschoolers will love it! Filled with 

repetition and fun words, such as um-pah-pahs 

and wiggles and wobbles, little ones will enjoy 

“reading” along with parents or teachers as they 

are entranced by Polacco’s story. 

A wonderful adventure begins when three little 

goats find their gate unlocked one day and stray 

from their home. The click, click, click of the 

bridge, squish, squish, squish of the mud, and 

um-pah-pah, um-pah-pah of the carousel delight 

them, but when they encounter an angry ogre 

(who most likely won‘t scare our readers in the 

least), they can’t return to their home fast 

enough. 

Patricia Polacco’s familiar, vibrantly colored 

illustrations are beautiful, the characters 

resembling peasants of a foreign land, drawn in 

a folk art style. This is written for the very 

young, preschoolers ages 3-5, and will be a sure 

hit for them and their parents. 

Ceil Carey, LTA. Young Adult Public Librarian, Plano, Illinois. 

A parade for Sam / written by Mary 

Labatt ; illustrated by Marisol Sarrazin. 


HBB, 1553377877, list price: $14.95. 

E. Dogs--Fiction; Parades--Fiction. 1 v. (unpaged) : 


Sam's snowy day / written by Mary Labatt 

; illustrated by Marisol Sarrazin. 


HBB, 1553377893, list price: $14.95. 

E. Dogs--Fiction; Snow--Fiction. 1 v. (unpaged) : 



A Parade for Sam is the story of Puppy Sam, a 

female puppy with bundles of energy she uses to 

explore the world around her. When Sam hears 

a parade going by her house, she excitedly wants 

to join in on the fun, but will her owners allow 

her to watch the parade? Will Sam be allowed 

to march in the parade with the jugglers, 

dancers, and clowns? 

Sam’s Snowy Day finds Puppy Sam on yet 

another adventure, this time on a snowy winter 

day. Sam’s owners, Joan and Bob, take Sam to 

the park to play in the snow. Sam’s many 

misadventures are sure to have kids laughing out 

loud. 

Mary Labatt has added two new stories to her 

“Puppy Sam” series of Kids Can Read titles. 

With simple beginning-reader words, Ms. 

Labatt enables even the youngest reader to enjoy 

her funny stories about Sam the puppy. Fullcolor 

drawings by Marisol Sarrazin are 

absolutely adorable, and will capture the 

attention of each child with their vibrant colors. 

Youngsters who can’t read will beg for these 

two books to be read over and over, and ones 

who can read themselves will certainly pick 

these up more than once to enjoy. 


Pup and Hound in trouble / by Susan 

Hood ; illustrated by Linda Hendry. 


HBB, 1553376765, list price: $14.95. 

E. Stories in rhyme; Friendship--Fiction; Dogs-- 



Pup and Hound stay up late / by Susan 

Hood ; illustrated by Linda Hendry. 


HBB, 1553376781, list price: $14.95. 

E. Stories in rhyme; Friendship--Fiction; Dogs-- 



Kids Can Press offers the Kids Can Read series. 

Level one includes “short stories, simple 

sentences, easy vocabulary, lots of repetition 

and visual clues for kids just beginning to read.” 

Susan Hood’s Pup and Hound books are among 

the selections in level one. 

In Pup and Hound in Trouble, faithful Hound 

follows Pup through misadventures in a pond, 

with a cat, and spilling animal feed. In Pup and 

Hound Stay Up Late, Pup wanders around at 

night. Eventually, the little doggie encourages 

Hound to join the nighttime fun. 

The artist, Linda Hendry, offers winsome animal 

characters drawn in pencil crayon on sienna 

colored pastel paper. Hound truly looks 

horrified when Pup falls into the pigs’ mud 

puddle. Pup always appears innocent, but 

mischievous. Little hands will anxiously turn 

pages…just to see Pup’s next antic. 

Fiction, of course, has great leeway in characters 

and conversation between animals. Still, I 

wondered about Otto the opossum in Pup and 

Hound Stay Up Late. Opossums are not known 

as friendly animals, yet we read, 

Otto, the opossum, 

Was fuzzy and round, 

He scooted over 

And nuzzled Hound. 

“Play with us Hound! 

Let’s stay up!” 

So Hound hung out 

With Otto and Pup. 

The Kids Can Read series also contains more 

advanced books. Level two has longer, varied 

sentences and increased vocabulary. Stories in 

level three include more challenging vocabulary 

with less repetition. For more information, see 

www.kidscanpress.com. Choose these books 

for beginning readers and as read-aloud 

selections for younger children. Pup and Hound 

will entertain everyone! 



* 

What color is love : a parable of God's 

gifts / by Nan Gurley ; illustrated by Bill 

Farnsworth. LCCN 2004000529. Grand 

Rapids : Zonderkidz, 2005. 

HBB, 0310708885, list price: $14.99. 

E. Grandmothers--Fiction; Christian life--Fiction; 

Dressmakers--Fiction. 1 v. (unpaged) : col. ill. ; 29 

cm. 

Grades PS-4. Rating : *5. 

Emma’s Grammy is a seamstress. Although she 

sews for paying customers, Grammy’s finest 

creation is Emma’s coat of five colors. Yellow, 

gray, red, white, and green each tell their story 

about how to receive Jesus as Savior. In this 

garment, Grammy wrapped Emma in “all the 

colors of love.” Children can learn about 

salvation in Christ from Nan Gurley’s What 

Color Is Love: A Parable of God’s Gifts. 

Readers are not told how much time Emma and 

Grammy spend together. This story is possibly 

part of a summer visit. Perhaps the grandmother 

and granddaughter are a family unit. Because 

we lack these details, What Color Is Love will 

resonate with children whose primary caretakers 

are grandparents. Regardless of these details, 

Grammy listens to Emma’s prayers at night and 

helps her “snuggle deep into the covers.” 

Bill Farnsworth’s artwork resembles life in the 

1950s. Women wear dresses. Grammy’s 

sewing machine is a plain, black model. The 

furniture and curtains in Grammy’s house are 

neat and clean, but with an older appearance. 

A Note to Parents mentions several scriptures, 

explaining why the author chose the various 

colors. Red refers to Hebrews 9:22, because 

“…without the shedding of blood there can be 

no forgiveness of sin.” Scripture quotations are 

from the New International Reader’s Version of 

the Bible. The author wrote, “I pray this story 

will inspire you to help the children in your life 

give their hearts to Jesus.” 



S E P T E M B E R E 2 0 0 5 1 2 C H R I S T I A N L I B R A R Y J O U R N A L

BOOK REVIEWS CHILDREN’S FICTION 

Arby Jenkins meets his match / Sharon 

Hambrick ; illustrated by Del Thompson. 

(Arby Jenkins series ; 5.) LCCN 

00051871. Greenville, S.C. : Journey 

Books, 2001. 

PAP, 1579244610, list price: $7.49. 

Fic. Grandmothers--Fiction; Home schooling-- 

Fiction; Schools--Fiction; Christian life--Fiction. 120 

p. : ill. ; 22 cm. 


Twelve-year-old Arby Jenkins is a seventh grade 

student who has his plans for the future already 

figured out. He knows where he will be going 

to school and even who he’s going to marry. We 

all know what they say about the best laid plans 

of mice and men, though, don’t we? According 

to Scottish poet Robert Burns, they often go 

awry, and that is indeed what happens to poor 

Arby. 

When his school burns down, his parents decide 

homeschooling is the best choice for Arby, and 

it doesn’t help matters any when a teacher he 

dislikes is asked to give him English lessons. 

Then he learns his beloved grandmother has 

fallen in love with his next-door neighbor, a man 

who lost an arm during WWII, and who calls 

Arby by his real name, Rutherford. Can the 

things in life that Arby sees as problems really 

be blessings in disguise? 

Arby Jenkins Meets His Match is the fifth book 

in the Arby Jenkins Series, which is for children 

ages aged nine to twelve. While Arby thinks he 

has life all figured out, he comes to realize that 

life is full of uncertainties and changes he can’t 

control and he must rely on God to help him deal 

with them. Arby tends to jump quickly to 

conclusions which are often wrong, making for 

some silly situations. With fairly short chapters, 

this book by Sharon Hambrick is perfect for 

bedtime reading. 


Dangerous crossing : the revolutionary 

voyage of John Quincy Adams / by 

Stephen Krensky ; illustrated by Greg 

Harlin. LCCN 2003040852. New York : 

Dutton’s Children’s Books, 2005. 

HBB, 0525469664, list price: $16.99. 

Fic. Adams, John Quincy, 1767-1848 --Childhood 

and youth--Juvenile fiction; Adams, John, 1735-1826 - 

-Juvenile fiction; Adams, John Quincy, 1767-1848 -- 

Childhood and youth; Adams, John, 1735-1826 -- 

Fiction; Voyages and travels--Fiction; United States-- 

History--Revolution, 1775-1783--Juvenile fiction; 

United States--History--Revolution, 1775-1783. 1 v. 

(unpaged) : col. ill. ; 23 x 29 cm. 


The year is 1778, and colonial leader John 

Adams and his son Johnny cross the Atlantic 

from Massachusetts colony to Paris on a 

dangerous mid-winter voyage. Their goal is to 

gain support for the colonies from the French 

during the American Revolution. While making 

the crossing, their ship, the Boston, is chased by 

the British. The ship is further damaged by 

lightning, veers off-course, and its crew engages 

a British merchant ship before they finally arrive 

in France. 

A map of the voyage may be found at the front 

of the book. An author’s note is appended, 

providing information about later contributions 

to the U.S. of this father and son team. 

Stephen Krensky and Greg Harlin have again 

teamed up to write a picture book account of an 

event in American Revolutionary War history. 

Their previous collaboration was Paul Revere’s 

Midnight Ride (HarperCollins, 2002). 

Dangerous Crossing depicts a little known story 

in American history, but the results of this 

journey had significant bearing on America’s 

future, for France became an ally in our war for 

independence. 

The text is fast-paced, the action lively, and the 

watercolor illustrations vivid with details of life 

onboard ship in the 18th century. Harlin uses 

many hues of blue and grey for the ocean 

scenes. This pair needs to be encouraged to 

continue its collaborative exploration of 

American history for younger readers. 

Marion M. Mueller, MS. Library Media Specialist, New Hope 

Christian School, Neenah, Wisconsin. 

* 

The door in the wall / by Marguerite de 

Angeli. LCCN 88031291. New York : 

Doubleday, 1989, 1949. 


Fic. Middle Ages--Fiction; People with disabilities-- 

Fiction; Great Britain--History--Edward III, 1327- 

1377--Fiction. 120 p. : ill. ; 25 cm. 


His father, Sir John de Bureford, is with the king 

in the Scottish wars and his mother, Lady Maud 

is away from home serving the ailing queen 

when ten-year-old Robin is struck by an illness 

that paralyzes his legs. When all the household 

servants succumb to the Black Death in London, 

Brother Luke arrives to take Robin to care for 

him in nearby St. Mark’s. The friar assures 

Robin that every wall has a door in it 

somewhere. With Brother Luke’s wise therapy 

and encouragement, Robin recovers his health 

and learns to make and master the use of his 

crutches. When the plague subsides, Brother 

Luke and a minstrel, John-go-in-the-Wynd, 

escort Robin through various adventures to the 

castle of Sir Peter de Lindsay, who has agreed to 

foster him. During a siege by nearby Welsh 

fighters, Robin returns Sir Peter’s kindness by 

pursuing his scheme to send for rescue. The 

king and queen arrive for Christmas, 

accompanied by his parents, bringing joy and 

honor for Robin. 

Marguerite de Angeli, the author of a number of 

other historical fiction books, has set The Door 

in the Wall in the Middle Ages. She brings to 

life fourteenth century England, with its sights, 

sounds, and smells. Her use of a few archaic 

expressions in the dialogue conveys a sense of 

past time without loss in intelligibility. She 

portrays her characters with sympathy. Robin 

develops from a spoiled and desperate child into 

a thoughtful, courageous youth who achieves 

success in spite of his disability. The metaphor 

of the “door in the wall” reappears at appropriate 

points within the well-constructed plot. The 

friar’s faith and his confident use of scripture 

and prayer are consistently positive. The author 

also illustrates her book with soft black-andwhite 

drawings, both full-page and half-size, 

enhancing the sense of time and story. This 

1950 Newbery Medal winner is highly 

recommended for home and Christian school 

libraries. 

Donna W. Bowling. Library/Educational Consultant, Dallas, Texas. 

Fleabiscuit sings! / Marlene Fanta Shyer. 

LCCN 2004019454. New York : Marshall 

Cavendish, 2005. 

HBB, 0761452133, list price: $15.95. 

Fic. Family life--New York (State)--New York-- 

Fiction; City and town life--New York (State)--New 

York--Fiction; Dogs--Fiction; New York (N.Y.)-- 

Fiction. 150 p. ; 22 cm. 


Mr. Muffin, a retired baker, not only bakes the 

most wonderful Hope cookies, he needs 

someone to walk his dog, Fleabiscuit, every day. 

Between the cookies and the dog, twelve-yearold 

Nicky’s boring summer suddenly takes a 

turn for the better. Due to his father’s death, 

Nicky is crammed into a tiny apartment with his 

mother, little sister, grandmother, and eccentric 

uncle, so walking the dog is a joyful escape. 

Once he discovers that the dog can really sing, 

he starts making plans for fame and fortune. But 

Mr. Muffin’s health takes a turn for the worse 

and he goes to the hospital. Fleabiscuit goes to 

stay with Mr. Muffin’s daughter outside the city 

and then ends up in the pound. Nicky spends the 


CHILDREN’S FICTION 

rest of the summer trying to get the dog back, 

but when they finally get to the pound, 

Fleabiscuit has been adopted. Brokenhearted, 

Nicky realizes it is more than the dog’s moneymaking 

potential that he loves. There are a 

couple of additional twists before the happy 

ending, but in the end, Nicky and Fleabiscuit get 

to make beautiful music together. 

Firmly rooted in the city of New York, Nicky is 

an appealing character. Marlene Shyer has 

developed a young boy’s love for a dog into a 

poignant search for the important things in life. 

The family relationship in this book, while 

unconventional, is very loving. The book has a 

couple of interwoven themes. The Hope 

cookies are important, as is the relationship with 

Mr. Muffin, but neither of those sustain the 

story; only Nicky’s love for the dog does that. 

That the happy ending is believable, and not a 

Disney-esque invention, will make Fleabiscuit 

Sings! even more appealing to both boys and 

girls. The recipe for Hope cookies is included at 

the end of the book. 

Kelley Westenhoff, JD. Parent-Librarian, Dominion Christian 

School, Oakton, Virginia. 

Hitty : her first hundred years / Rachel 

Field ; with illustrations by Dorothy P. 

Lathrop. LCCN 98073305. New York : 

Simon & Schuster/Aladdin Books, 1998, 

1929. 

PAP, 0689822847, list price: $5.99. 

Fic. Dolls--Fiction; Newbery Medal. 235 p. : ill. ; 20 

cm. 


During a harsh Maine winter in 1829, a peddler 

carved a doll for little Phoebe Preble. He used 

his prized possession: a small piece of mountain 

ash brought from Kilkenny, Ireland, a wood said 

to bring luck to the possessor and to have 

“power against mischief.” Phoebe named the 

doll Mahitable. 

One hundred years later, from a New York 

antique shop on 8th Street, “Hitty” writes her 

memoirs, captivating the reader with her 

delightful narration. 

Her travels start when Phoebe’s family puts out 

to sea on her father’s whaling ship. As is often 

the way with children’s books, most adults are 

removed from the story early on. In this case, 

Hitty becomes separated from the Prebles when 

she endures a shipwreck in the South Seas. She 

resides for a time with a snake charmer, and 

meets President Abraham Lincoln, using her 

inherent powers and good fortune to survive. 

Her adventures are a delightful way for preteens 

to absorb history. Some of the 

characteristics of this early-century book, 

however, may seem boring to slow readers. 

Rachel Field won a Newbery Medal in 1929 for 

Hitty : Her First Hundred Years. The pen and 

ink illustrations are by Dorothy P. Lathrop. 

Maxine Cambra. Freelance Writer, Sunday School Teacher; 

Anderson, California. 

Horrible Harry and the locked closet / by 

Suzy Kline ; [pictures by Frank 

Remkiewicz]. LCCN 2003026332. New 

York : Penguin/Viking, 2004. 

HBB, 0670059447, list price: $13.99. 

Fic. Schools--Fiction; Mystery and detective stories. 

68 p. : ill. ; 22 cm. 


Horrible Harry has long been a favorite of 

young children, and this story is one they will 

surely want to add to their collections. In this 

episode of Harry’s adventures, it has been 

raining for four days straight, causing the class 

to suffer through indoor recess each day. Miss 

Mackle’s class is bored and Harry decides to 

liven it up with an adventure. When he asks 

about the locked closet in the classroom, Miss 

Mackle allows Harry to investigate the reasons 

why it hasn’t been opened for over forty years. 

With the help of some of the other students, the 

secret treasures in the locked closet are finally 

revealed. 

You’ll have to read the book to find out what 

they are, though, because it’s a secret. 

Horrible Harry and the Locked Closet is a fun 

chapter book for intermediate readers, and a 

read-aloud book for younger children. Kids 

love mysteries, and Horrible Harry is one series 

that will never let them down. Children will 

excitedly read this story to discover what really 

is in the closet, and also to find out about the 

person who owned the items inside. Suzy Kline 

is an imaginative author and Horrible Harry is a 

fun series my children have always loved. 

Frank Remkiewicz adds nicely to the story with 

his black-and-white ink drawings. I recommend 

this book and any of the other Horrible Harry 

mysteries for kids and parents in the mood for 

some fun, light detective work. 


The incredible rescues / Ed Dunlop ; 

[illustrated by Tom Halverson]. (The 

young refugees : 3.) LCCN 2003021166. 

Greenville, S.C. : BJUP/JourneyForth, 

2004. 

PAP, 1591660122, list price: $7.49. 

Fic. Wallenberg, Raoul, 1912-1947 --Juvenile fiction; 

Wallenberg, Raoul, 1912-1947 --Fiction; World War, 

1939-1945--Jews--Rescue--Hungary--Budapest-- 

Juvenile fiction; World War, 1939-1945--Jews-- 

Rescue--Fiction; Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)-- 

Hungary--Fiction; Righteous Gentiles in the 

Holocaust--Fiction; Brothers and sisters--Fiction, 

Christian life--Fiction. 166 p. ; 22 cm. 


Hans and Gretchen, brother and sister, are 

Christian Austrian teenagers living in Budapest, 

Hungary, during the last days of World War II. 

They befriend a Jewish teenager, Miklos Toth, 

who escapes from a train heading to one of 

Hitler’s death camps. Miklos is working as a 

messenger and deliveryman for Swedish 

diplomat Raoul Wallenberg. Soon Hans and 

Gretchen are working for Wallenberg also, 

delivering food, medicine, and messages to 

Jewish Council members and families in hiding 

and in safe houses. 

But eventually they encounter the ruthless 

Hungarian Nyalis, or Arrow Cross youth; 

Gretchen is captured and placed on a 

deportation train heading for Auschwitz. Can 

Wallenberg and his helpers save Gretchen? Can 

Gretchen save herself? 

The Young Refugees belongs to the series The 

Incredible Rescues, by Dunlop. Of the main 

characters, only Wallenberg and his legation 

workers are real. There is documentation of his 

actively saving thousands of Jews from 

deportation and extermination. By giving 

young teenagers a main role in the rescue 

process, Ed Dunlop has created a novel with 

empathetic impact for the intended readers. 

The novel is a page-turner, but the teenagers are 

too sweet, too perfect. Hans frequently looks for 

the ideal time to witness, and berates himself for 

not taking advantage of opportunities. When he 

does witness, it is done in a heavy-handed, 

insincere way, denigrating Christians who he 

claims are just religious and part of a religious 

system. (While clergy did succumb to Hitler’s 

threats, others worked underground to support 

the Jews.) The author works too hard to make 

the conversations sound German or Hungarian. 

“Gut” is inserted in conversation at an 

annoyingly frequent tempo, as are “schnell,” 

“ja,” and “nein.” Dunlop has created an 

interesting read, but not good literature. 



Mercy Watson to the rescue / Kate 

DiCamillo ; illustrated by Chris van 

Dusen. LCCN 2004051896. Cambridge, 

Mass. : Candlewick Press, 2005. 

HBB, 0763622702, list price: $12.99. 

Fic. Fire departments--Fiction; Neighbors--Fiction; 

Pigs--Fiction; Humorous stories. 68 p. : col. ill. ; 22 

cm. 


Mercy Watson is a pig. She lives in the home of 

Mr. and Mrs. Watson and enjoys all the 

privileges of being their “child.” Her favorite 

food is hot, buttered toast and Mrs. Watson’s 

favorite thing to do is to make it for her. 

Being lonely in her own bed one night, Mercy 

decides to sleep with the Watsons. This 

precipitates a near disaster as all of them suffer 

from excess toast consumption. The bed starts 

to break through the floor below. Mercy jumps 

off just in time. The Watsons think she is nobly 

going for help. On the contrary, Mercy has 

simply decided that she is hungry. But even a 

hungry pig can alert the fire department, 

S E P T E M B E R 2 0 0 5 1 4 C H R I S T I A N L I B R A R Y J O U R N A L

depending on how she goes about looking for 

food. 

Kate DiCamillo, author of Because of Winn- 

Dixie (Candlewick, 2001) and The Tale of 

Despereaux (Candlewick, 2003), has created a 

truly unique character in Mercy Watson. She is 

not as sentient as literary giants Poppleton, 

Babe, Wilbur, or Olivia. Mercy simply acts like 

a pig. Even in seeking out the Watsons to sleep 

with, Mercy is just looking for company—a 

porcine trait. The clueless, indulgent Watsons 

infer heroic behavior on the part of their 

“porcine wonder” while the reader is in on the 

joke. In fact, the only time Mercy conveys any 

understanding of what the humans are saying is 

when Mrs. Watson says the word, “breakfast.” 

Vivid, painted illustrations by Chris Van Dusen 

enliven this early reader chapter book. 

A pig as entertaining as this deserves her own 

series, and the author promises the same. In 

fact, the first chapter of the next book can be 

found at the end of Mercy Watson to the Rescue. 



One splendid tree / written by Marilyn 

Helmer ; illustrated by Dianne Eastman. 


HBB, 1553376838, list price: $15.95. 

Fic. Christmas stories, Canadian. 1 v. (unpaged) : 

col. ill. ; 24 x 26 cm. 


Hattie fights disappointment every time she 

thinks of Christmas. With their father away 

fighting, and their mother working in a factory 

to support them, Hattie cannot understand why 

her little brother, Junior, refers to their city 

apartment as “home” and talks excitedly about 

Christmas coming. Hattie, older and more 

practical, knows there is no money for a tree or 

presents or any of the things that make 

Christmas special. She wants their father and 

their farm back. Still, in order to indulge 

Junior’s childhood a bit longer, Hattie goes 

along with him when he starts to turn an 

abandoned potted palm into a Christmas tree. 

Despite her initial resistance, Hattie finds herself 

drawn into the spirit of Christmas as people in 

the apartment house anonymously contribute 

bits and pieces towards decorating their 

community tree. By the time they’re finished, a 

Christmas gathering is planned and Hattie 

begins to appreciate sacrifice and honor. 

Marilyn Helmer’s telling of One Splendid Tree 

evokes the feelings of sadness and loss the 

children are experiencing in wartime Canada, 

but not in a threatening way. By having Hattie 

hold her tongue and indulge Junior, Helmer 

shows a miracle of the heart occurring not just 

for Hattie, but for all the people in the building. 

Dianne Eastman’s Photoshop illustrations come 

close to giving a 3-D perspective to the story. As 

a nice touch, her own father’s RCAF photo 

graces the pages showing the family’s living 

room. 

There is no mention of Jesus or the reason for 

Christmas. This is a feel-good story about 

sacrifice and community, very well done. 

Instructions for making yarn snowman 

decorations are provided on the last page. 

Compared to the many pop-culture and cartoon 

character Christmas books that are published, 

this is a much more worthwhile purchase. 



* 

Shen of the Sea / by Arthur Bowie 

Chrisman ; illustrated by Else Hasselriis. 

LCCN 68013420. New York : 

PenguinPutnam/Dutton, 1968, c1925. 

HBB, 0525392440, list price: $16.99. 

Fic. Short stories; Newbery Medal. 221 p. : ill. ; 22 

cm. 


One of those wonderful classics which go on 

providing enjoyment decade after decade, Shen 

of the Sea presents a delightful collection of 

Chinese folk and wonder tales for the American 

audience. Here is just a sprinkling of themes: 

hen-pecked Cheng Chang, who becomes 

Emperor and invents chop sticks; lazy Ah-Fun, 

who nearly kills his father while accidentally 

inventing gun powder; the little princess who 

saves the kingdom with her mud pies; the boy 

who buys a worthless father and ends up King, 

and the Chinese version of the boy who “cried 

wolf.” 

Wanderer, scholar, raconteur par excellence, 

Arthur Chrisman loved the Californian Chinese 

people and their tales. With panache and humor, 

illumined by his own version of the Chinese 

style of storytelling, Chrisman delighted, and 

continues to delight, his multi-generational 

audiences. Famous Danish silhouettist Else 

Hasselriss’ intriguing black and white 

illustrations capture the essence of each tale. 

One of our longest-lived publishers, Dutton 

Children’s Books, provides not-to-be-forgotten 

classics for today’s reader. 1926 Newbery 

Medal Winner, Shen of the Sea is for all schools, 

libraries, and readers of all ages. Don’t miss this 

one! 


* 

The spoon in the stone / by Doug Peterson 

; [illustrations by Big Idea Productions]. 

(VeggieTown values ; 1.) LCCN 

2004000462. Grand Rapids : Zonderkidz, 

2005. 

PAP, 0310706262, list price: $3.99. 


Fic. Waiters and waitresses--Fiction; Knights and 

knighthood--Fiction; Conduct of life--Fiction; 

Vegetables--Fiction. 1 v. (unpaged) : ill. ; 21 cm. 

Field of beans / by Doug Peterson ; 

[illustrations by Big Idea Productions]. 



2005. 

PAP, 0310706289, list price: $3.99. 

Fic. Elijah (Biblical prophet)--Fiction; Luck--Fiction; 

Charms--Fiction; Faith--Fiction; Conduct of life-- 

Fiction; Vegetables--Fiction. 1 v. (unpaged) : ill. ; 21 

cm. 

Lost in place / by Doug Peterson ; 

[illustrations by Big Idea Productions]. 



2005. 

PAP, 0310706297, list price: $3.99. 

Fic. Fear--Fiction; Space flight--Fiction; Trust in 

God--Fiction; Conduct of life--Fiction; Vegetables-- 

Fiction. 1 v. (unpaged) : ill. ; 21 cm. 

Frog wars / by Cindy Kenney and Doug 

Peterson. (VeggieTown values ; 2.) LCCN 


2005. 

PAP, 0310706270, list price: $3.99. 

Fic. Perseverance (Ethics)--Fiction; Hope--Fiction; 

Musical instruments--Fiction; Conduct of life--Fiction; 

Vegetables--Fiction. 1 v. (unpaged) : ill. ; 21 cm. 

Grades K-2. Rating : *5. 

The wacky veggies are back with excellent 

moral lessons made delicious by being wrapped 

in humor. VeggieTown Values series books are 

each a take-off on a popular story or movie that 

will engage the children as well as the adults 

who will be reading these over and over … and 

over. The full color illustrations by Michael 

Moore are vivid and engaging. 

The Spoon in the Stone is a lesson in serving 

others. Protesting helping a grumpy neighbor, 

Junior and Laura are soon drawn into the land of 

Ham-a-lot where everyone lies around waiting 

to be served while dishes and messes pile up. 

When Laura is captured by a Giant, Junior has to 

quit waiting for someone else to do the hard job, 

and he finds his servant’s heart. 

Field of Beans is a lesson in faith, loosely based 

on the story of Elijah. Everyone on Junior’s 

baseball team has a lucky charm or ritual except 

Junior. He is tempted to get his own lucky 

charm as he’s having a rough season. Mr. 

O’Malley’s unique bookshop drops Junior into 

the story of the Mount Carmel Dodgers vs. the 

Baal City Relics where despite all their lucky 

charms and idols, the Relics can’t start their 

barbecue. When it is Elijah’s turn, his prayer 

and attitude of submission teach Junior where 

his own faith should dwell. 

Lost in Place is about overcoming fear. After 

Junior gets lost on the way home from the park, 

he’s afraid to leave his own house. A journey 

through space with the crew of the Jitterbug 2 

teaches Junior that God watches over all of us, 

no matter where we are. 



Frustrated by trying to learn to play the tuba, in 

Frog Wars Junior goes to Mr. O’Malley. He 

suddenly finds himself dropped into a very loose 

version of the story of Exodus, except this 

version uses Star Wars-type characters, and 

nobody dies. Your students will laugh at the 

names. Who wouldn’t love Cuke Sandwalker, 

Dark Visor, Sweet-Pea-3-Oh and Achoo Bless- 

U? Having to go back to the king over and over 

again, Junior learns that perseverance is the key 

to success in anything. Don’t be surprised if you 

hear the funniest lines quoted over and over 

again. 

Authors Cindy Kenney and Doug Peterson fully 

understand what makes children laugh, and 

sympathize with parents who will be re-reading 

these tales often. 



Tommy’s rocket / by Sharon Hambrick ; 

[illustrations by Maurie J. Manning]. (Fig 

Street kids ; 2.) LCCN 2003025357. 

Greenville, S.C. : Journey Books, 2004. 

PAP, 1591661862, list price: $7.49. 

Fic. Rockets (Aeronautics)--Fiction; Clubs--Fiction; 

Neighborhood--Fiction; Schools--Fiction; Friendship-- 

Fiction. 83 p. : ill. ; 22 cm. 


Tommy’s race / by Sharon Hambrick ; 

[illustrations by Maurie J. Manning]. (Fig 

Street kids ; 3.) LCCN 2004012060. 

Greenville, S.C. : Journey Books, 2004. 

PAP, 1591662869, list price: $7.49. 

Fic. Clubs--Fiction; People with disabilities--Fiction; 

Wheelchairs--Fiction; Friendship--Fiction; 

Moneymaking projects--Fiction. 95 p. : ill. ; 22 cm. 


The Fig Street Kids is a pleasantly-written series 

geared to boys aged six to ten (although girls 

would like it, too). Each book is narrated by 

seven-year-old Tommy Jackson (he turns eight 

in Book #3), who lives on middle class Fig 

Street in a neighborhood reminiscent of 1960s 

TV suburbia. 

Tommy is all boy, and the lines Sharon 

Hambrick gives him are slyly humorous—as 

when Tommy says his clubhouse is painted blue 

like the sky “except if it’s a cloudy day or 

snowy, then it doesn’t match the sky anymore.” 

His friends, however, are not as well-developed; 

Zack and Howie are completely 

interchangeable. Sammy, an African American 

boy, is super-smart… but that’s his only 

distinctive character trait. 

Tommy’s Rocket opens with Tommy bragging 

about how the Spy Guys, the club he and his 

friends have formed, solve all sorts of mysteries. 

But the book’s plot has very little mystery, and 

almost nothing to do with the promised rocket of 

the title. Most of the story concerns Tommy’s 

jealousy of Sammy, who’s just moved to town 

and bests Tommy in everything. 

Similarly, Tommy’s Race doesn’t have as much 

to do with the big Field Day race as it does with 

the Spy Guys befriending wheelchair-bound 

William, and doing chores to purchase a 

wheelchair for an African boy with polio. The 

story is well-told, the friends loyal, and their 

kindness to each other admirable, but the story’s 

a bit episodic, and neither book is really about 

what its cover promises. 

One problem with the first book is that 

Tommy’s jealousy towards Sammy is never 

condemned, and he never realizes it’s wrong, 

although he does, on his own, decide to 

relinquish his chances of winning the history 

prize so Sammy—who has the better project— 

can win. 

Fig Street Kids is a cute series, featuring 

innocent adventures and nothing controversial. 

Hambrick’s writing is appealing. Maurie 

Manning’s line drawings add zest. But the 

series isn’t a necessary purchase for libraries on 

tight budgets. 

Rosemarie DiCristo. Children’s Author, Bronx, New York. 

Two sides to everything / by Deb 

Brammer. LCCN 2003023194. 

Greenville, S.C. : JourneyForth, 2004. 

PAP, 1591661668, list price: $7.49. 

Fic. Sheep ranches--Fiction; Farm life--New Zealand- 

-Fiction; Uncles--Fiction; Christian life--Fiction; New 

Zealand--Fiction. 151 p. : ill. ; 22 cm. 


When Josh’s mother is badly injured in a car 

accident and must spend six months in rehab, 

Josh is sent to New Zealand to live, temporarily, 

with his great-uncle Hamish. Josh’s parents 

think this is a good idea. Josh isn’t so sure. As 

an American, he has problems fitting in with the 

other kids, and has trouble understanding the 

language—even if New Zealanders also speak 

English. A bigger problem? Local bully Neville 

is tormenting the other kids, and Josh decides 

he’s the only one who can help. 

Fast-moving and funny, Two Sides to Everything 

will definitely appeal to preteen boys. Josh is 

delightful character: a little stubborn, always 

joking around, yet never disrespectful. His 

awkwardness and attempts to survive rural New 

Zealand ring true, as does his desire to stop the 

bullying. Neville has been the town bully for 

years and no one but Josh will defy him. 

Unfortunately, Josh’s first solution is to be as 

cruel to Neville as Neville is to others. It’s a 

natural enough reaction, especially as written by 

author Deb Bramer. Yet Bramer also shows 

Josh learning—and believing in—the power of 

loving an enemy. It’s done in a convincing way 

and, in a nice touch, never really reforms 

Neville, although it does change Josh. 

One somewhat graphic scene shows Josh and 

Neville helping a ewe give birth. 



BOOK REVIEWS CHILDREN’S NONFICTION 

A child's garden of Bible stories / by 

Arthur W. Gross ; illustrated by Marilynn 

Barr. LCCN 2001268469. St. Louis, Mo. : 

Concordia, 2001. 

HBB, 0758608586, list price: $9.99. 

220. Bible stories. 142 p. : col. ill. ; 20 cm. 


A child's garden of prayer / illustrations 

by Marilynn Barr. LCCN 2004009899. 

St. Louis, Mo. : Concordia, 2005. 

HBB, 0758607857, list price: $6.99. 

242/.82. Prayers--Juvenile literature. 80 p. : col. ill. ; 

21 cm. 


A Child’s Garden of Bible Stories by Arthur W. 

Gross is now available in hardback, making it a 

more durable library or classroom resource. 

There are 28 Old Testament stories and 32 New 

Testament stories. The author’s intention is to 

provide vocabulary and sentence length suitable 

for the young reader. This would make the book 

a good one for read-aloud or for working with 

small children. However, the book leaves much 

to be desired for anything but a surface brush of 

Bible stories. Sadly missing are any references 

or citations to Scripture so that the child can 

connect the stories with their parents’ Bible. 

More importantly, the author is quite liberal with 

his paraphrasing the stories—even to the point 

of inaccuracy. For example, in his story of 

Abraham’s Faith in God, he states that God told 

Abraham “Someday the Messiah will be born 

from your children’s children.” The author also 

underestimates children’s ability to process the 

bad and the ugly in Bible stories along with the 

good; thus the story of David omits Bathsheba 

and the story of Jacob omits his sin in taking 

Esau’s blessing. Marilynn Barr’s rich 

watercolors clearly illustrate each story. 

Although recommended as a “gift book,” I 

hesitate to agree for fear of giving an inaccurate 

or incomplete book to a child who might be 

from an unchurched family. 

A Child’s Garden of Prayer is a sweet little 

volume full of short prayers that a parent or 

caregiver can pray over a child, with a child, 

and/or teach a child. Although they are divided 

into categories (morning, evening, holidays, 

special occasions, etc.), there is no table of 

contents or index to make them a quick find. 

About half of them are in King James English, 

which may make it difficult for the child to 

connect to Jesus as their personal friend. Many 

of the prayers are from other publications by 

Concordia, including Lutheran Worship, so 

citations are particular to those resources. This 

would be a nice gift for a young family raising 

their children within the Lutheran church. 



* 

Veggie Bible dictionary / by Cindy Kenney 

and Karen Brothers. Brentwood, Tenn. : 

Integrity Publishing, 2005. 


220.3. Bible--Dictionaries, Juvenile. 158 p. : ill. ; 24 

cm. 

Grades PS-5. Rating : *5. 

The Veggie Bible Dictionary is filled with 

definitions that will help children understand 

words from the Bible and words having to do 

with Veggie Tales characters and videos. 

This delightful dictionary is packed with Bible 

words that children will enjoy looking up and 

learning. Some entries give Bible verse 

references; for example: choose (chooz) to make 

a choice or decision. “You did not choose me, 

but I chose you . . .” See John 15:16. Cindy 

Kenney and Karen Brothers also include Veggie 

character names and items from Veggie videos 

along with simple, full color illustrations and 

fun examples like: “Larrymobile (LAIR-eemoh-beel) 

Created by Larryboy’s talented and 

English butler, Alfred, this super-ride is 

Larryboy’s crime-fighting car with super 

gadgets so it can turn into a plane or a 

submarine! But can it make waffles?” This 

book can be used by Sunday school teachers, 

homeschooling families, and Christian schools. 

Because of the fun format, children will 

memorize easier and retain information better. 

It is clever and silly, but informative and 

accurate. Exactly what we’ve come to expect 

from Veggie Tales. 

Pam Halter. Children’s Author, Pennsville, New Jersey. 

This is no fairy tale / by Dale Tolmasoff ; 

illustrations by Corbert Gauthier. LCCN 

2005002287. Wheaton, Ill. : Crossway 

Books, 2005. 

HBB, 1581346441, list price: $15.99. 

232.9. Jesus Christ--Biography--Juvenile literature. 

30 p. : col. ill. ; 26 cm. 


This is No Fairy Tale by Dale Tolmasoff is a 

unique story that compares fairy tales to the true 

story of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Beginning 

with Jesus’ birth and ending with his return to 

heaven, this book invites our children to be a 

part of the greatest story ever told. Children 

who love reading fairy tales will love this 

beautifully-illustrated and well-written story. 

Exceptionally life-like, detailed watercolor 

paintings done by award-winning Corbert 

Gauthier bring the humanity of Jesus to life. A 

foreword by John Piper is included, explaining 

what will be read in the upcoming pages. 

Parents looking for a ‘happily-ever-after’ 

bedtime story that isn’t a fairy tale will find this 

book to be everything they have been seeking. 


One hundred Bible stories in the words of 

Holy Scripture : based on the New 

International Version with colored 

illustrations, scripture passages, 

questions, and explanatory notes. LCCN 

98174387. St. Louis, Mo. : Concordia, 

1998. 

HBB, 0758608578, list price: $12.99. 

220.9/505. Bible stories. 207 p. : col. ill. ; 23 cm. 


Concordia has published an updated version of 

an old classic, One Hundred Bible Stories. 

Available with an activity guide and answer key 

(neither reviewed), this volume features classic 

stories of the Old and New Testaments. Each 

two-page spread features the story on the left 

page, written in the language of the New 

International Version (NIV) of the Bible. 

Footnotes on the same page provide further 

details or explanations, largely the way the NIV 

itself does. The facing page has a full color 

illustration captioned by the central theme of the 

story. This page also includes three questions 

for reflection, and Words to Remember: 

scripture that references a prophecy or event in 

scripture that parallels the featured story. There 

are 50 stories from each Testament, beginning 

with Creation and ending with Paul’s shipwreck 

from Acts 27-28. The book would be a nice 

starting point for family devotions, or even to 

help focus Sunday School lessons. It is also a 

nice book for a mid-level reader who is still 

intimidated by the whole Bible. The table of 

contents is particularly useful as it gives the 

entire reference for the source of each story. 



GodQuest : dare to live the adventure / 

Rick Osborne. (2:52 soul gear.) LCCN 


2004. 

PAP, 0310708680, list price: $7.99. 

248.8/2. Boys--Religious life--Juvenile literature; 

Christian life--Juvenile literature. 104 p. : ill. ; 22 cm. 



CHILDREN’S NONFICTION 

Based on Luke 2:52 (“one of the only verses that 

provides a glimpse of Jesus as a young boy”), 

Zondervan’s 2:52 Soul Gear books are designed 

to help boys aged eight to twelve become 

“smarter, stronger, deeper, and cooler as they 

develop into young men of God.” God Quest, 

one volume in the series, calls its readers’ 

attention to the cosmic battle raging in the 

world, then recruits boys to take their part in it. 

At the same time, it tries to show them that 

Christianity isn’t boring. 

Rick Osborne succeeds ably. He mixes together 

comics panels, mini-quizzes, geometricallyshaped 

sidebars, and bold fonts as he recounts 

the fictional adventures of three racially-diverse 

boys who’ve joined their church’s mysterious 

new Bible class. Also included is nonfiction 

commentary on the lessons they learn. The first 

concept introduced: that God is love. Osborne 

then deftly discusses Creation, free will, sin, and 

God’s plan for salvation. Other chapters tackle 

how to know God, and how to pray. 

Osborne’s vivid writing style will definitely turn 

boys on to God. The topics covered show he 

understands how young boys—and new 

Christians—think. (For instance, he quickly 

addresses what might be an obvious question: if 

Jesus defeated sin, why does evil still exist?) 

Potential problems: the paper stock is 

newspaper-like, meaning the book probably 

won’t stand up to heavy use. Also, the “mystery 

Bible class” is set in a medieval dungeon that 

(apparently supernaturally) appears and 

disappears. This is all logically explained by 

book’s end, but it may raise some questions 

among kid readers as well as adults. 

Osborne has a gift for making the basics of 

Christianity—especially its tough concepts— 

crystal clear. Despite the ‘boys only’ theme, 

God Quest would be an excellent choice for all 

age groups and genders. 


Bright Easter day / written by Julie 

Stiegemeyer ; illustrated by Susan 

Spellman. LCCN 2005277678. St. Louis, 

Mo. : Concordia, 2005. 

HBB, 0758608187, list price: $9.99. 

263/.93. Easter; Jesus Christ--Passion--Juvenile 

literature; Jesus Christ--Resurrection--Juvenile 

literature; Holy Week. 1 v. (unpaged) : ill. ; 27 cm. 

Grades PS-K. Rating : 5. 

The story of Easter / Christopher Doyle 

and John Haysom. St. Louis, Mo. : 

Concordia, 2005. 

HBB, 0758608373, list price: $12.99. 

263/.93. Easter. 29 p. : col. ill. ; 26 cm. 


Two new Easter books from Concordia present 

the story for two different age and maturity 

groups. The first, Bright Easter Day by Julie 

Stiegemeyer, is targeted toward the very young. 

The bright chalk illustrations by Susan Spellman 

and the rhyming prose make this an excellent 

read-aloud of the most important story in the 

history of man. Focusing on Jesus, the greatest, 

becoming the least for our benefit, this book 

gently takes us through the triumphal entry, the 

last supper, the Garden, the arrest, trial, and 

crucifixion. It concludes with a beautiful 

rhyme, “Conquered death, conquered grave, 

Jesus died, rose to save, On that bright Easter 

day as the stone rolled away.” The only possible 

drawback to this book is that a modified cursive 

font was used for the text. It may prove difficult 

for some new readers to decipher on their own. 

The Story of Easter, by Christopher Doyle, is a 

much deeper treatment of the final days of 

Christ’s ministry, death and resurrection. The 

illustrations by John Haysom, a combination of 

pen and ink and richly detailed water colors, 

would be suitable for framing in another format. 

Using all four of the Gospels, the author weaves 

the accounts to provide as complete a story as 

possible. He focuses on the actions of this 

period, rather than the parables Christ was 

teaching, although he does leave out the incident 

during the arrest in the Garden when Peter sliced 

off the servant’s ear. A very well done book, it 

is marred only by a typographical error on page 

nine (belivers rather than believers). 



Ebony & ivory : discovering 10 keys to 

racial harmony / Stephen Elkins ; 

illustrated by Jesse Reisch, CD narrated 

by Toby McKeehan and Michael Tait of dc 

talk. LCCN 2004301665. Nashville : 

Broadman & Holman, 2004. 

HBB, 0805426744, list price: $14.99. 

270/.089. Race relations--Religious aspects--Juvenile 

literature; Race awareness--Juvenile literature. 26 p. : 

col. ill. ; 24 cm. + 1 sound disc (digital ; 4 3/4 in.). 


The purpose of this lovely book, song, and CD 

is to respect diversity, particularly between the 

black and white races. As a creative endeavor, 

Ebony & Ivory: Discovering 10 Keys to Racial 

Harmony is successful in promoting the stated 

Biblical principle of (Romans 12:18) “If it is 

possible, as far as it depends on you, live at 

peace with everyone.” The story is about a 

multicultural band called the Wonder Beats as 

they are coming to King’s Park in a small town 

on a warm summer night. Misunderstanding 

exists between a black and a white youngster in 

the audience. Through the lyrics of the band’s 

songs and the melody of the music, these two 

main characters learn quickly that each key, 

whether it is an ‘A’ or an ‘E’ note, is important 

to a complete composition. The musicians play 

their some of their music (like Deep and Wide) 

leaving the ‘A’s” out in order to illustrate how 

God’s music would sound awful without each 

musical note. In the end the young men get the 

message that friendship can end fear, bullying, 

and low morale. They learn “How good and 

pleasant it is when brothers live together in 

unity!” (Psalm 133:1) 

In spite of differences, the emotional intensity of 

being transformed by music and its message is a 

powerful benefit of this book. Beautifully 

illustrated by Jesse Reisch, and excellently 

narrated by Toby McKeehan and Michael Tait of 

the Christian music group dc talk. Recommend 

this for school and church libraries. Includes 

CD. 

Rebecca Cress-Ingebo, MSN, MLS. Academic Librarian, 

Beavercreek, Ohio. 

Remember : the journey to school 

integregation / Toni Morrison. LCCN 

2003022884. Boston : Houghton Mifflin, 

2004. 


379.2/63/0973. African Americans--Education-- 

Pictorial works; Discrimination in education--United 

States--Pictorial works; School integration--United 

States--Pictorial works; United States--Race relations-- 

Pictorial works. 78 p. : ill. ; 28 cm. 


Toni Morrison selected over fifty archival black 

and white photos (here reproduced in sepia) to 

illustrate the desegregation struggle. She added 

a fictional prose narrative, which reflects 

possible emotions and thoughts of the 

individuals in the pictures. Ms. Morrison’s 

introduction prepares the mind of the reader to 

understand the importance of remembering 

historical events. Appended is a timeline in civil 

rights and integration history beginning with the 

1896 Supreme Court decision allowing 

“separate but equal facilities” to the 

Congressional gold medal awarded to the Little 

Rock Nine. Each photo is also documented for 

place and date in appended thumb nail photos. 

The 2005 Coretta Scott King Author Award was 

presented to Toni Morrison for Remember: the 

Journey to School Integregation. 

Morrison has created a beautifully designed 

book, almost a coffee table book, about one of 

the most significant events of the 20th century. 

But it will be a book which will be difficult to 

promote for general reading among its intended 

upper elementary and middle school clientele 

because it appears so staid. On the other hand, 

it could be an impact book if shared by parents 

or grandparents who participated in the civil 

rights movement, or by a teacher teaching a civil 

rights unit. Team this title with Through My 

Eyes by Ruby Bridges (Scholastic, 1999), The 

Story of Ruby Bridges by Robert Coles 

(Scholastic, 1995), White Socks Only by Evelyn 

Coleman (Whitman, 1999), and Sister Ann’s 

Hands by Marybeth Lorbiecki (Dial, 1998) 

along with Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King 

biographies for a powerful visual and literary 

experience. 




What does a mail carrier do? / Lisa 

Trumbauer. (What does a community 

helper do?.) LCCN 2004006893. Berkeley 

Heights, N.J. : Enslow Publishers, 2005. 

LIB, 0766025446, list price: $21.26. 

383/.145. Letter carriers--Juvenile literature. 24 p. : 



What does a police officer do? / Felicia 

Lowenstein. (What does a community 

helper do?.) LCCN 2004006894. Berkeley 


LIB, 0766025411, list price: $21.26. 

363.2/3. Police--Juvenile literature. 24 p. : col. ill. ; 

24 cm. 


What does an EMT do? / Anna Louise 

Jordan. (What does a community helper 

do?.) LCCN 02004006891. Berkeley 


LIB, 766025403, list price: $21.26. 

616.02/5/023. Emergency medical technicians-- 

Juvenile literature. 24 p. : col. ill. ; 24 cm. 


What does a firefighter do? / Erin 

Schmidt. (What does a community helper 

do?.) LCCN 2004006892. Berkeley 


LIB, 076602539X, list price: $21.26. 

628.9/2. Fire fighters--Juvenile literature; Fire 

extinction--Juvenile literature. 24 p. : col. ill. ; 24 cm. 


Color photographs, accompanied by color 

illustrations and inserts, make this series one a 

child will remember for aspects of the 

community worker’s job. The text and logical 

real life photos are ones even beginner readers 

can have some confidence and enjoyment in 

reading. More advanced readers can help 

another child through the book on their own. 

Each title opens with a words to know section 

introducing subject-specific vocabulary, some 

of which require teacher or parent assistance or 

an advanced reader. Each ends with a few other 

titles to consider as well as related Internet 

addresses. Each title has chapters devoted to 

what the community worker wears, does, and 

uses, as well as specific contributions in the 

community. An index refers young readers back 

to specific places, equipment, or skills integral 

to that community worker’s tasks in and for the 

community. Public libraries can add these 

timeless titles. 



Merriam-Webster's primary dictionary / 

Ruth Heller [illustrator]. LCCN 

2004028647. Springfield, Mass. : 

Merriam-Webster, 2005. 

HBB, 0877791740, list price: $16.95. 

423. English language--Dictionaries, Juvenile. 12, 

436 p. : col. ill. ; 29 cm. 


Meant to be a child’s first dictionary, Merriam- 

Webster’s Primary Dictionary introduces 

students to what a dictionary looks like and how 

it works. It includes 1,000 main entries that 

describe more than 2,000 words and introduce 

1,000 more. Written in the belief that language 

is fun, entries often feature jokes, puns, and 

riddles that are all about words. It also sets out 

to foster a love for language, and so includes 

many poems. 

Ruth Heller is responsible for the overall design 

and wrote the pronouncing poems that appear at 

the beginning of each alphabetical section of the 

dictionary. She worked with two other artists to 

create the additional art needed. Intriguing 

information about how words come to be and 

sometimes change in meaning enhances a 

child’s understanding of language. This work is 

more comprehensive than The Kingfischer First 

Dictionary (2004) but compatible to DK 

Children’s Illustrated Dictionary (1994). One 

distinct advantage with Merriam-Webster’s 

Primary Dictionary is that older special 

education students will feel free to use it because 

of the bright and playful illustrations. Any 

school and public library seeking to add a 

primary dictionary can give this top billing. 



Merriam-Webster's alphabet book / 

written and illustrated by Ruth Heller. 

LCCN 2004029213. Springfield, Mass. : 

Merriam-Webster, 2005. 


428.1/3. English language--Alphabet--Juvenile 

literature. 1 v. (unpaged) : col. ill. ; 28 cm. 


I’ve read many fine alphabet books. None, 

however, approach Merriam-Webster’s Alphabet 

Book. Ruth Heller has written and illustrated 

such a cute selection for little children. The 

author does not stop with the usual “A is 

for…and then list “A” objects. Heller also 

explains the various sounds of letters. For 

instance, 

In skeleton and fussy mess, 

we clearly hear one sound for S. 

But S’s 

sound the same as Z’s 

in music, easy, knees, and peas. 

S and H 

together make 

the sound that’s found 

in ship and shake. 

We clearly hear the S 

in smile, 

but not the one we see in isle. 

As a read-aloud book, the bright pictures and 

catchy rhymes will interest even younger 

preschoolers. Older preschoolers will enjoy the 

interactive possibilities. Encourage little boys 


and girls to pronounce words that are given as 

examples. You’ll read, “…We hear two 

different sounds for A in alligator and Saturday.” 

Young readers will find enough familiar words 

to feel comfortable, yet there are also challenges 

such as jamboree, Egypt, and valentine. Most 

pages hold one object to represent the letter, as 

jeans for J, koala for k, and parrot for p. 

The drawings are attractive and colorful. Slick, 

quality paper and sturdy binding makes this 

book a good choice for heavy use. Each copy 

will withstand many little ones learning about 

reading, writing, and communication skills. If 

you’re going to buy one alphabet book, make it 

this one! 



Discover the planets / written by Cynthia 

Pratt Nicolson ; illustrated by Bill Slavin. 

(Kids can read.) C20049068857. Toronto 

: Kids Can, 2005. 

HBB, 1553378253, list price: $14.95. 

523.4. Planets; Planets--Juvenile literature. 32 p. : 



Discover space / written by Cynthia Pratt 

Nicolson ; illustrated by Bill Slavin. (Kids 

can read.) C20049068849. Toronto : Kids 

Can, 2005. 

HBB, 1553378237, list price: $14.95. 

520. Astronautics--Juvenile literature; Outer space-- 

Exploration--Juvenile literature. 32 p. : col. ill. ; 24 

cm. 


Discover the Planets and Discover Space were 

written by Cynthia Pratt Nicholson and 

illustrated by Bill Slavin as part of the Kids Can 

Read series. Each of these books is designed 

especially for beginning readers. These Level 3 

titles have longer, more complex stories and 

sentences, more challenging vocabulary, 

language play, minimal repetition, and visual 

clues for kids who are reading by themselves. 

Chapters cover the solar system in general, and 

then each of the planets separately or the role of 

astronauts in space and what goes into exploring 

other planets in and outside our solar system. 

Each page has a colorful photo with appealing 

typesetting and headings. Schools, public 

libraries, and parents seeking titles that enable 

children to read on their own will find Discover 

The Planets and Discover Space a helpful 

addition. 



Why is it snowing? / Judith Williams. (I 

like weather!.) LCCN 2004016790. 

Berkeley Heights, N.J. : Enslow 

Publishers, 2005. 

HBB, 0766023192, list price: $21.26. 



551.57/84. Snow--Juvenile literature. 24 p. : col. ill. ; 

24 cm. 


Judith Williams answers question about the 

origin of snow, snow shapes, snow crystals, size 

of snowflakes, blizzards, measuring snow, and 

the importance of snow. An experiment, which 

asks, “What takes up more space, snow or 

water?” is included, as are a vocabulary list, 

bibliography, web sites, and an index. Full color 

photographs and one drawing complement and 

illustrate the concepts. 

Why is it Snowing? is part of Enslow’s “I Like 

Weather!” series designed for early primary 

grades. The book is mainly a supplement for a 

snow unit, providing factual information in an 

orderly logical didactic approach. As with many 

science books for young children, this one is 

simplistic, and as a result, complete 

explanations are not found. However, this 

reviewer’s scientist husband verified that what 

was included is accurate. My first grade teacher 

will find the book helpful when she teaches her 

unit on snow which leads into a study of the 

states of matter. 



The AIDS epidemic : disaster & survival / 

Jennifer Bond Reed. (Deadly disasters.) 

LCCN 2004011699. Berkeley Heights, 

N.J. : Enslow Publishers, 2005. 

HBB, 0766023826, list price: $23.93. 

616.97/92. AIDS (Disease)--Juvenile literature. 48 p. 

: col. ill., col. map ; 25 cm. 


Earthquakes : disaster & survival / 

Jennifer Bond Reed. (Deadly disasters.) 



HBB, 0766023818, list price: $23.93. 

363.34/95. Earthquakes--Juvenile literature. 48 p. : 

col. ill., col. map ; 25 cm. 


Tornadoes : disaster & survival / Bonnie J. 

Ceban. (Deadly disasters.) LCCN 

2004011700. Berkeley Heights, N.J. : 

Enslow Publishers, 2005. 

HBB, 0766023834, list price: $23.93. 

363.34/923. Tornadoes--Juvenile literature. 48 p. : 

col. ill., col. map ; 25 cm. 


Volcanoes : disaster & survival / Stephanie 

Buckwalter. (Deadly disasters.) LCCN 

2004011928. Berkeley Heights, N.J. : 

Enslow Publishers, 2005. 

HBB, 0766023842, list price: $23.93. 

551.21. Volcanoes--Juvenile literature. 48 p. : col. 

ill., col. map ; 25 cm. 


A social studies/geography series, Deadly 

Disasters presents an up-to-date, wide spectrum 

discussion of each type of disaster. All books 

within the series follow a similar outline: 

explanation of the disaster under discussion; its 

impact worldwide and within the USA; how it 

affects the reader and steps for protection; 

individual disasters in the USA; helpful chapter 

notes; glossary; book and Internet bibliography; 

and index. Colored photographs germane to the 

topic appear on every page of each volume. 

As well as discussing the wide picture, The 

AIDS Epidemic by Jennifer Bond Reed, 

introduces the student to individuals battling this 

disease and discusses the possibilities of new 

medicines and research. 

Bonnie J. Ceban’s Tornadoes looks at a weather 

problem familiar to Americans. This volume 

considers the anatomy of tornadoes and 

compares individual tornadoes of recent times. 

From Vesuvius to Krakatoa to Mount St. Helens, 

Volcanoes, written by Stephanie Buckwalter, 

presents both the hazards and benefits of 

eruptions. 

In Earthquakes, Reed discusses the hows, whys, 

and problems arising from this type of disaster. 

The book features a list of the ten deadliest 

earthquakes. 

An interesting series written on a level 

appreciated by many ages, including adults, 

Deadly Disasters will be useful in all school 

libraries and classrooms not already in 

possession of textbooks dealing with these 

subjects. 


Firefighters / written by Paulette 

Bourgeois ; illustrated by Kim LaFave. 


: Kids Can, 2005. 

HBB, 1553377508, list price: $14.95. 

628.9/25. Fire fighters; Fire fighters--Juvenile 

literature; Fire extinction--Juvenile literature; 

Occupations. 32 p. : col. ill. ; 24 cm. 


Postal workers / written by Paulette 

Bourgeois ; illustrated by Kim LaFave. 


: Kids Can, 2005. 


384/.14/02373. Postal service; Postal service-- 

Juvenile literature; Postal employees--Juvenile 

literature; Occupations. 32 p. : col. ill. ; 24 cm. 


Each of these books is written, illustrated, and 

designed especially for beginning readers. 

These Level 3 titles have longer, more complex 

stories and sentences, more challenging 

vocabulary, language play, minimal repetition, 

and visual clues for kids who are reading by 

themselves. Chapters help children learn about 

the important jobs that people do every day. 

Both Firefighters and Postal Workers offer 

young readers an informative behind-the-scenes 

look at the lives of community workers. 

Each page has a color illustration and some text. 

Paulette Bourgeois’ text is well written but Kim 

LaFave’s illustrations will not hold the attention 

of some children. Public libraries seeking to 

supplement their collection with titles children 

can read on their own can consider adding these 

books. 



Transformed : how everyday things are 

made / written by Bill Slavin with Jim 

Slavin ; illustrated by Bill Slavin. 


HBB, 1553371798, list price: $24.95. 

670. Manufactures--Miscellanea--Juvenile literature. 

160 p. : col. ill. ; 29 cm. 


What’s at the center of a baseball? How are 

plastic dinosaurs made? What is dental floss 

made of? How do they measure the strength of 

plastic wrap? All of these questions and many, 

many more are answered in Bill and Jim 

Slavin’s new book, Transformed. The authors 

focus on what types of actions are required in 

the process of making familiar things such as 

running shoes, ketchup, plastic wrap, and 

marbles. Each item gets a 2-page spread so the 

information is spaced nicely. This spacing helps 

break up the steps for consideration before 

moving on to the next step. Each item gets a 

small box on its featured pages which gives an 

interesting fact about that item. For example, 

the page on jellybeans says, “chemists have 

created all kinds of jellybean flavors, including 

‘dirt’ and ‘earwax’.” These are the kinds of facts 

that children in the targeted age group will love 

to know. The pen and ink and watercolor 

illustrations, also by Bill Slavin, are as detailed 

as necessary and feature little men shepherding 

the article through the process. Unlike 

Macaulay’s The Way Things Work, this work 

focuses on the manufacture of familiar articles. 

The information is also much more basic than 

Macaulay’s book, and the pages are much less 

busy. Headings include Fun and Games, 

Around the House, Soup to Nuts, Cover-Ups, 

and Back to Basics. A good glossary and an 

adequate index complete the book. The page on 

where to go for more information is a little light. 

For those of us who loved Mr. Rogers’ factory 

tours, this book is the paper version of those 

exciting adventures. 



Come look with me : discovering African 

American art for children / James 

Haywood Rolling, Jr. ; [edited by] Charles 

Davey. (Come look with me.) LCCN 

2004115468. New York : Lickle 


HBB, 1890674079, list price: $15.95. 


704.03/96073. African American artists--Biography-- 

Juvenile literature; African American art--Juvenile 

literature. 31 p. : col. ill. ; 26 cm. 


Come look with me : discovering women 

artists for children / Jennifer Tarr Coyne ; 

[edited by] Charles Davey. (Come look 

with me.) LCCN 2004115467. New York : 

Lickle Publishing, 2005. 

HBB, 1890674087, list price: $15.95. 

704/.042. Women artists--Biography. 32 p. : col. ill. ; 

26 cm. 


Come look with me : art in early America 

/ Randy Osofsky ; [edited by] Charles 

Davey. (Come look with me.) LCCN 

2002104202. New York : Lickle 


HBB, 1890674125, list price: $15.95. 

709/.73. Art, American; Art, Colonial--United States. 

32 p. : col. ill. ; 26 cm. 


The Come Look With Me series was created by 

art teacher and curator Gladys Blizzard to 

introduce youngsters to art. There are at least 10 

books in the series. Each book reproduces 12 

works of art. The series is designed for parents 

and/or teachers to interact with children; 

therefore, each page of artwork faces a page of 

text which includes simple questions to 

stimulate discussion, brief biographical notes 

concerning the artist, and a few notes regarding 

the artwork being presented. 

In James Haywood Rolling, Jr.’s Discovering 

African American Art for Children, the artists 

selected a range from self taught folk artist 

Clementine Hunter to Paris-trained Henry O. 

Tanner. Children can glimpse urban life in New 

York during the 1950s or rural life during a 

Louisiana summer. 

Jennifer Tarr Coyne’s Discovering Women 

Artists for Children presents 12 works spanning 

many centuries. Included are Italian painter 

Artemisia Gentileschi (1593-1652), American 

impressionist Mary Cassatt (1844-1926), 

Minimalist painter Georgia O'Keeffe (1887- 

1986), sculptor Louise Nevelson (1899-1988), 

and more. 

Besides portrait and landscape paintings, Randy 

Osofsky’s Art in Early America includes 

examples of early American furniture (a painted 

cupboard from the early 1700s), needlework (a 

sampler from the early 1800s), and architecture 

(a Federal house built in 1805). 

These are high quality, well designed books. 

The full color art reproductions are first rate. 

The text questions and comments are well 

written and lend themselves to a broad range of 

ages. Younger children will benefit from the 

simple questions; older children will gain much 

from the biographical/explanatory notes. These 

series should work well in a group setting or one 

on one. Parents/teachers will learn just as much 

as the children! 

David Rainey, MLIS. State Library of Louisiana, Baton Rouge. 

Easy-to-do holiday crafts : from everyday 

household items / edited by Sharon Dunn 

Umnik. Honesdale, Pa. : Boyds Mills, 

2005. 

LLB, 1590783166, list price: $19.95. 

745.594. Handicraft--Juvenile literature; Holiday 

decorations--Juvenile literature. various pagings : col. 

ill. ; 28 cm. 


Packaged in a durable spiral binder and edited 

by Sharon Dunn, Easy-to-Do Holiday Crafts 

from Everyday Household Items is a 6-book-in- 

1 craft book designed for younger children. Full 

of simple, easy-to-do crafts, this fantastic book 

is divided into an everyday craft section and 

separate ones for each holiday, such as 

Christmas and Thanksgiving. Most of the 

materials needed to construct each craft are 

everyday household items, such as egg cartons 

and paper plates, while others like pipe cleaners 

and felt are easily purchased at a wide variety of 

stores. Full-color photographs represent over 

1,000 crafts, and the instructions on how to 

make each craft are straightforward and easy to 

follow. Printed on heavy-gauge paper, this book 

is great for parents, teachers, and caregivers of 

young children who need some simple creative 

craft ideas. 


The jumbo book of needlecrafts / written 

by Judy Ann Sadler. [et. al.] ; illustrated 

by Esperanca Melo, June Bradford, Jane 

Kurisu. C20049047043. Toronto : Kids 

Can, 2005. 

PAP, 1553377931, list price: $16.95. 

746.4. Needlework--Juvenile literature. 208 p. : col. 

ill. ; 24 cm. 


The Jumbo Book of Needlecrafts is exactly what 

its title indicates—it’s a jumbo sized book full of 

needlecraft activities for pre-teen to teenage 

girls. This large volume includes information 

on gathering supplies, cutting fabric, and sewing 

by hand. This excellent how-to guide for 

needlecrafts teaches young girls the basics of 

knitting, crocheting, embroidery, quilting, and 

machine sewing. Judy Ann Sadler’s step-bystep 

instructions and patterns for each project 

are clear and detailed, including full-color 

drawings and photographs to aid in making the 

projects. The projects themselves will certainly 

appeal to young girls, and even possibly for 

older women who enjoy needlecrafts 

themselves. An index is included for easy 

reference at the end of the book. 



* 

The orphans of Normandy: a true story of 

World War II told through drawings by 

children / Nancy Amis. LCCN 

2002027816. New York : Atheneum, 2003. 

HBB, 0689841434, list price: $17.95. 

940.53/161. Children's art; Survival; Orphans; World 

War, 1939-1945--Campaigns--France--Normandy; 

France--History--German occupation, 1940-1945; 

Normandy (France)--History--20th century. 1 v. 

(unpaged) : col. ill., map ; 24 x 29 cm. 

Grades 3-6 and up. Rating : *5. 

A pictorial history from World War II, The 

Orphans of Normandy tells the saga of the one 

hundred orphan girls who, led by calmly brave 

teachers, left their French orphanage to trek to 

safety. Armed only with little white flags of 

truce, they trekked for 150 miles, always just 

one step ahead of the fighting, only the wave of 

a white flag away from being bombed. 

Author Nancy Amis received her story from her 

great-aunt Aggie who helped send relief 

packages from the United States to the orphans 

in their new, barely furnished home. In return, 

Aggie received the wonderful drawings and 

essays these French girls made to journal their 

odyssey. These childish, poignantly real 

drawings, complete with their French narrations, 

are the meat of The Orphans of Normandy. 

Amis’ delicate translations and explanations 

illumine the pictures. Seeing history through the 

eyes of those who experienced it is compelling, 

piercing, exciting. The reader walks beside 

these girls. The Orphans of Normandy impacts 

with a message relevant to today’s problems. 

Classified for grades 3-6, all ages will appreciate 

the chance to learn of this episode. 

Recommended for all schools, all libraries, for 

everybody. 


* 

The Jim Elliot story. (The torchlighters : 

heroes of the faith series.) Worcester, Pa. : 

Vision Video, 2005. 

DVD, list price: $17.99. 

B or 921 or 266/.023/0924. Elliot, Jim, 1927-1956; 

Missionaries--United States; Missionaries--Ecuador. 1 

videodisc (30 min + 83 min.) : sd., col. ; 4 3/4 in. 

Grades 3-7 and up. Rating : *5. 

In this premiere release of The Torchlighters 

Christian heroes series, the lives and deaths of 

Jim Elliot, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, Ed 

McCully, and Pete Fleming are described in 

animated color and lively dialogue. Jim Elliot’s 

life is briefly recounted beginning in his college 

years, summarizing his passion for God and 

missions and his first seemingly disastrous 

experience with the Quechuas. The main focus 

of the 30-minute film is the effort to locate and 

share the gospel with the Aucas. An older Auca 

man narrates the events that resulted and how 

the Aucas, now known as Waorani, heard of 



Christ through relatives of the murdered 

missionaries. 

The Jim Elliot Story is accurate, succinct, and 

dramatic. Children, teens, and adults could be 

inspired and motivated toward missions and 

becoming more passionate in evangelism as a 

result. Though the title infers the movie is about 

Jim Elliot, it also presents a good look at Nate 

Saint. The spearing segment is straightforward, 

yet could be too strong for sensitive children. 

Hearing the Woarani man’s narration provides 

reality and an understanding of the impact the 

five men had on this tribe. Extra features as just 

as valuable as the movie: an interview with Nate 

Saint’s son Steve about his father and his 

growing up as a missionary kid, and a lengthy 

but captivating interview with the late Marj 

Saint Van der Puy about her life as a missionary. 

Both interviews are excellent. A study guide for 

homeschool or church education is also 

excellent with downloadable activities, a 

teacher’s guide, and parent letter about the video 

and curriculum. 

Karen Schmidt, BA. Freelance Writer/Editor, Camano Island, 

Washington. 

My brother Martin : a sister remembers 

growing up with the Rev. Dr. Martin 

Luther King, Jr. / by Christine King 

Farris ; illustrated by Chris Soentpiet. 

LCCN 2001044684. New York : Simon & 

Schuster, 2003. 

HBB, 0689843879, list price: $17.95. 

B or 921 or 323/.092. Farris, Christine King; King, 

Martin Luther, Jr., 1929-1968--Childhood and youth. 

1 v. (unpaged) : ill. (some col.) ; 27 x 31 cm. 


Martin Luther King, Jr.’s big sister, Christine 

King Farris (the last surviving member of his 

immediate family), wanted children to 

understand that before her brother grew up to be 

a famous civil rights leader, he was a normal 

fun-loving little boy with dreams about the 

future. To that end, she wrote My Brother 

Martin, which includes stories and amusing 

incidents from his life, as well as glimpses of 

what made him grow up to be the man he was. 

(His death is not touched on at all.) 

And Farris has her own dream, which she 

explains in her dedication and afterword: “To 

my granddaughter, Farris Christine Watkins, and 

all the other children of the world who will 

continue my brother’s dream of turning the 

world upside down... Perhaps the information 

contained in this book will inspire young people 

to also become leaders of the future.” 

Chris Soentpiet’s colorful watercolors (modeled 

on actual King family members and friends, 

listed in the back) show snips of Farris’s and 

King’s lives with almost photographic precision 

and include an incredibly detailed picture of 

their father preaching a sermon before a packed 

church as well as several black-and-white 

paintings of civil rights newsreel footage. 

Information on how Soentpiet got involved in 

this project is included in the back in an 

illustrator’s note. 

The book also includes a poem called “You Can 

Be Like Martin: A Tribute to Dr. Martin Luther 

King, Jr.,” by Mildred D. Johnson, and 

photographs of both Farris and King as children. 

This book would work well as an introduction to 

Martin Luther King Day, civil rights, southern 

life in the 30’s and 40’s, and the importance of 

individual choice. 

Betty Winslow. Librarian, Bowling Green Christian Academy, 

Bowling Green, Ohio. 

* 

The perfect wizard : Hans Christian 

Andersen / by Jane Yolen ; illustrated by 

Dennis Nolan. LCCN 2003055717. New 

York : Dutton's Children's Books, 2005. 

HBB, 0525469559, list price: $16.99. 

B or 921 or 839.8/136. Andersen, H. C. (Hans 

Christian), 1805-1875 --Juvenile literature; Andersen, 

H. C. (Hans Christian), 1805-1875; Authors, Danish-- 

19th century--Biography--Juvenile literature; Authors, 

Danish. 1 v. (unpaged) : col. ill. : 29 cm. 


One of the greatest fairy tale writers of all times, 

Hans Christian Andersen started life as the 

homely son of a shoemaker and a washerwoman 

in Denmark. His mother taught him folklore 

and superstition, and his father gave him a love 

for books and writing. Although he was 

sensitive to the ridicule of his peers, he 

continued to share his stories with anyone who 

would listen. When he spoke of his life, he 

referred to the lies he told about his background 

as fairy tales. For example, one of the books he 

wrote was so unsuccessful that its pages were 

used to wrap blocks of cheese. Consequently, 

his tale entitled “The Goblin at the Grocer’s” is 

a story about a student who unwrapped his 

cheese to discover that its wrapper was a torn 

page from a discarded book. In 1834, he wrote 

his first collection of fairy tales for children and 

finally gained the recognition he deserved. 

The Perfect Wizard: Hans Christian Andersen 

by Jane Yolen, illustrated by Dennis Nolan, is a 

biography written in picture book format. 

Andersen is lovingly brought to life through 

Yolen’s expert descriptions, excerpts from some 

of his better known tales, and Nolan’s full-page, 

appropriately captioned illustrations. Yolen, 

often referred to as America’s own version of 

Hans Christian Andersen, is well-known for her 

variety of literary contributions to children and 

teens. A chronological bibliography of quoted 

works is included. Highly recommended for all 

children’s biography collections. 

Kim Harris. Children’s Librarian, Lyell Branch of the Rochester 

Public Library, Rochester, New York. 

Sequoyah : the Cherokee man who gave 

his people writing / by James Rumford. 

LCCN 2004000980. Boston : Houghton 

Mifflin, 2004. 

HBB, 0618369473, list price: $16.00. 

B or 921 or 975.004/97557/0092. Sequoyah, 1770?- 

1843.; Cherokee language--Alphabet; Cherokee 

language--Writing; Cherokee Indians--Biography. 1 v. 

(unpaged) : col. ill. ; 30 cm. 


James Rumford received a 2005 Robert F. Sibert 

Honor Award for this children’s biography. In 

1958 the Rumford family saw a sequoia tree, 

and Rumford wondered about the Cherokee 

man whose name seems to have been given to 

the tree. In simple storyteller’s prose Rumford 

relates, in English and Cherokee simultaneously, 

the Sequoyah’s struggles to develop writing for 

his people. A Cherokee syllabary, author’s note 

about Sequoyah’s genius, and a timeline are 

included in the end materials. Rumford used 

ink, watercolor, pastel and pencil on paper 

adhered to a rough board to achieve the textured 

drawings. 

Rumford has become known for his total book 

design in his titles: Calabash Cat and His 

Amazing Journey (Houghton Mifflin, 2003) and 

Traveling Man: the Journey of Ibn Battuta 

1325-1354 (Houghton Mifflin, 2001) which 

feature Arabic, African, Chinese, and Moorish 

design. In Sequoyah: the Cherokee Man Who 

Gave His People Writing, the book is tall 

representing the tree; both Cherokee and 

English writing are used; and the flavor of 

Cherokee culture is presented via framed 

labeled artwork. Other books have been written 

about Sequoyah, but have not emphasized, in 

limited words, his genius of creating a written 

language, something that had not been done by 

an individual. Use this title, not so much for 

Sequoyah’s biography, but for a celebration of 

literacy and writing. 




BOOK REVIEWS YOUNG ADULT FICTION 

* 

Adam of the road / by Elizabeth Janet 

Gray, illustrated by Robert Lawson. 

LCCN 42010681. New York : 

PenguinPutnam Children's Books/Viking, 

1942. 

HBB, 0670104353, list price: $18.99. 

Fic. Middle Ages--Fiction; Great Britain--History-- 

Plantagenets, 1154-1399--Fiction; Newbery Medal. 

317 p. illus. 24 cm. 


At St. Alban's school in June 1294, eleven-yearold 

Adam Quartermayne's father, Roger, finally 

returns from a minstrels' school in France. 

Riding Roger's old warhorse Bayard, Roger and 

Adam, with Adam's red spaniel Nick, head for 

Sir Edmund de Lisle's manor house outside 

London. After the wedding festivities for de 

Lisle’s daughter, Roger and Adam begin to 

travel the country, entertaining as opportunity 

arises. While Roger and Adam are sleeping at 

an inn overnight, another minstrel named Jankin 

steals Nick. As they search for the spaniel, 

Adam and Roger become separated for several 

months. Before they are reunited, Adam swims 

a river, helps in the arrest of robbers, recovers 

from a fall off a wall, and assists the father of his 

friend Perkin. 

In Adam of the Road, Elizabeth Janet Gray (later 

Elizabeth Gray Vining) provides many details 

about life in late Thirteenth Century England for 

nobles and merchants, scholars and peasants, 

and many types of clergy and minstrels. 

Through his various adventures, Adam 

demonstrates his loyalty, courage, 

resourcefulness, perseverance, creativity, 

integrity, and sensitivity to the needs and desires 

of others. Full-page black and white drawings 

by Robert Lawson at the beginning of each 

chapter complement beautifully the author's 

sympathetic and optimistic story. The end 

papers feature an illustrated map of Adam's 

travels. Highly recommended for Christian 

school and home libraries. Newbery Award 

1943. 


Al Capone does my shirts / Gennifer 

Choldenko. LCCN 2002031766. New 

York : G. P. Putnam's Sons, 2004. 

HBB, 0399238611, list price: $15.99. 

Fic. United States Penitentiary, Alcatraz Island, 

California--Fiction; Brothers and sisters--Fiction; 

Family problems--Fiction; Autism--Fiction; Alcatraz 

Island (Calif.)--History--Fiction. 228 p. : ill. ; 22 cm. 


The year is 1935, and Matthew, a.k.a. Moose, 

and his family have just moved to Alcatraz 

Island where his father works two jobs, 

electrician and guard. The need for more money 

precipitated the move as well as the proximity to 

the Esther P. Marinoff School where the family 

hopes Moose’s older, special needs sister, 

Natalie, can attend 

Moose dislikes the move for several reasons. 

He’s away from his friends, he needs to protect 

and care for Natalie more, there is a daily trip 

across the bay to school, only a few children live 

on the island, his father no longer has time for 

the family, and there’s Piper, the warden’s 

daughter, who is an equal to the prison’s con 

artists. 

Moose is torn between family allegiance, his 

own values, and a new student’s need to 

participate in teen activities. Piper concocts a 

moneymaking scheme in which students pay to 

have their laundry done and receive the right to 

claim that “Al Capone” did their shirts. Amidst 

the prison background is Natalie, who today 

would be diagnosed as autistic, her inability to 

communicate effectively, her mother’s drive to 

find a cure, and the family’s needs to be a 

family. Historical notes about Alcatraz and 

autism are appended. 

Gennifer Choldenko received a 2005 Newbery 

Honor Medal for this poignant and funny 

‘family in crisis’ story. Choldenko has crafted 

multi-dimensional lively characters in Moose, 

Natalie, Piper and seven-year-old Theresa 

Mattaman. Adults are less effective or likable: 

Mother is aloof, worrisome, fawning; Father is 

distant and overworked; the warden is 

dominated by his daughter. 

The setting immediately grabs the attention of a 

middle schooler. But, it is the humor in the 

dialogue, especially of Theresa, and the tension 

in the part of the plot revolving around the 

laundry scheme and Natalie’s antics that keep 

the reader turning pages. Some slight innuendo 

about what the prisoners may do to naive, but 

physically developed Natalie appears near the 

end of the story. The biggest defect is the too 

quick and smug ending, when Moose and Piper 

write Al Capone for assistance in getting Natalie 

into the school, and a shirt comes back from the 

laundry with the cryptic word, “Done.” 

This reviewer plans to read the title aloud to 6th 

graders. 



The bark of the bog owl / Jonathan 

Rogers. (The wilderking trilogy ; 1.) 

LCCN 2005295233. Nashville : Broadman 

& Holman, 2004. 

HBB, 0805431314, list price: $15.99. 

Fic. Fantasy; Adventure and adventurers. 231 p. : 20 

cm. 


The Bark of the Bog Owl is an allegorical 

retelling of the story of King David. Aiden is a 

twelve-year-old boy who longs for adventure. 

His wish is granted when he meets Dobro 

Turtlebane. That day, he slays a panther and 

saves Dobro’s life. Soon, Aiden finds himself at 

a banquet honoring a treaty with the greedy and 

depraved Pyrthen empire. In an elegant speech, 

Aiden’s father convinces King Darrow that 

signing the peace treaty would cause Corenwald 

to lose their peace-loving, God-fearing way of 

life. This is the beginning of Aiden’s actionpacked 

journey toward becoming the deliverer, 

or “Wilderking”, which is foretold in prophecy. 

Biblically literate youth will find much of the 

plot familiar as Aiden goes on to slay an 

unusually large Prythen soldier with his 

slingshot and lead the empire of Corenwald to 

victory through an unshakable faith in the one 

true God. However, he also faces a host of 

unfamiliar adventures that will delight readers 

and keep them reading. The pace is quick and 

the characters are genuine. One of my few 

concerns with the story is that its length and 

reading level may discourage young boys who 

would find it a captivating adventure. 

Therefore, I suggest this title as a read aloud for 

both teachers and families. There are many 

points for discussion about what is most 

important in life and when, if ever, war is 

justifiable. It is also good, clean fun. 

Tinna D. Mills, Young Adult Services Specialist, Chippewa River 

District Library, Mt. Pleasant, Michigan. 

* 

Bird / Angela Johnson. LCCN 

2003022793. New York : Penguin/Dial, 

2004. 

HBB, 0803728476, list price: $15.99. 

Fic. Runaways--Fiction; Stepfathers--Fiction; 

Interpersonal relations--Fiction; African Americans-- 

Fiction; Alabama--Fiction. 133 p. ; 19 cm. 


Bird is on a quest to find her stepfather, Cecil, 

after he abandons her and her mother. This 

resourceful thirteen-year-old travels from Ohio 

to Alabama and hides on a farm for a few weeks 

while she observes Cecil and decides how to 

approach him. Bird is homesick for her mother, 


YOUNG ADULT FICTION 

friends, and familiar surroundings, but through 

her determined mission, she helps healing begin 

for new friends Ethan who’s always been sickly 

and never experienced a “normal” life, and Jay 

whose brother has recently died. Jay’s heart “is 

searching for and not finding” the place it used 

to live. An elderly widow invites Bird to stay in 

her home until she discovers what she is really 

looking for and decides it’s time to go back 

where she belongs. 

Award-winning author Angela Johnson has 

created a moving, lyrical story where the 

characters’ lives interweave in surprising ways. 

Her opening scene describes Bird thinking that 

she “probably never had been dry or happy 

anytime in [her] whole life.” Johnson uses the 

theme of running—physically and 

emotionally—to symbolize Bird and Cecil. 

Photographs are also symbolic throughout the 

story. It was a photo that drove Cecil back to 

Alabama; the farm family’s smiling-faces 

photos that Bird says hello to, as though she 

knew them personally; and the lack of pictures, 

as well as lack of smiles, among Bird’s 

“people.” Similes such as, “hardwood floors 

that shine like puddles in the sunshine,” and her 

poignant question to Ethan, “What are you 

going to do with it [his new heart]?” are 

examples of Johnson’s literary excellence and 

insight into the soul. 

Florence G. Craig. Freelance Writer, Telford, Pennsylvania. 

* 

The bronze bow / Elizabeth George 

Speare. LCCN 61010640. Boston : 

Houghton Mifflin, 1989, 1961. 

HBB, 0395877695, list price: $16.00. 

Fic. Jesus Christ--Fiction; Palestine--Fiction; 

Newbery Medal. 255 p. ; 22 cm. 


Eighteen-year-old Daniel bar Jamin has hated 

the Romans since they crucified his father ten 

years ago. After years of living and working 

with a rebel band of Galilean zealots in the 

mountains, his grandmother's death brings him 

back to the village to work and support his 

stricken sister. When Daniel, with his friends 

Joel and Thacia, vow to stand together "for 

God's victory," they take the bronze bow 

(Psa.18:34) as their secret sign. Daniel's 

concept of the promised Messiah is challenged 

when he meets Jesus personally. Finally Jesus 

helps him release his hatred and recognize that 

"only love could bend the bow of bronze." 

The Bronze Bow is the second Newbery award 

book written by Elizabeth George Speare. She 

is also the author of the Newbery Medal title, 

The Witch of Blackbird Pond, (Houghton 

Mifflin, 1958), as well as the Newbery Honor 

book, The Sign of the Beaver, (Houghton 

Mifflin, 1983). Speare places her engrossing, 

well-constructed plot in an accurate Galilean 

setting at the time of Christ. She develops her 

characters skillfully. She brings Daniel through 

his struggles, both internal and external, until he 

comes to replace his passion for vengeance with 

action demonstrating forgiveness. Her inviting 

portrait of Jesus during His Galilean ministry is 

particularly insightful. Highly recommended 

for all libraries, in home, church, Christian 

school, and public settings. Newbery Medal, 

1962. 


Call it courage / Armstrong Sperry ; 

illustrations by the author. LCCN 

40004229. New York : Macmillan, 1968, 

c1940. 

HBB, 0027860302, list price: $16.95. 

Fic. Folklore--Polynesia; Courage--Folklore; 

Survival--Folklore. 96 p. : illus. ; 23 cm. 


In the great hurricane, Mafatu's mother held 

onto her three-year-old son, protecting him from 

the crashing waves, and dragged him to safety 

on land with her dying breath. For the next 

twelve years, Mafatu's awful fear of the sea 

surrounding his Polynesian island home has 

branded him a coward. Finally Mafatu decides 

he must go to another island to prove himself. 

At night, he puts some coconuts, his spear, and 

a knife into a canoe, and sails away with his dog, 

Uri. Things go well until a storm takes his sail 

and mast, and then his steering paddle. An 

ocean current crashes the canoe into a barrier 

reef, leaving Mafatu and Uri to swim ashore 

onto an uninhabited island. There Mafatu finds 

food to eat, and materials to make tools, 

clothing, weapons, and a canoe for his return 

home. During his time on the island he kills a 

wild boar (for food and its tusks for a necklace) 

and a shark (to rescue Uri), and escapes from 

some eaters-of-men who come to worship on 

that Forbidden Island. When he arrives back 

home, he is thin and weak, but proud. 

Author Armstrong Sperry based Call It Courage 

on a legend from a time "many years ago, before 

the traders and missionaries first came into the 

South Seas." His personal knowledge of culture 

and language in the South Pacific is reflected in 

his occasional insertion of Tahitian words and 

phrases in this gripping story. Sperry wrote 

other books, both fiction and non-fiction, about 

this area, as well as other historical settings. His 

excellent blue ink drawings provide faithful 

visual context for the narrative. Highly 

recommended for home and school libraries. 

Newbery Medal, 1941. 


Catherine, called Birdy / by Karen 

Cushman. LCCN 93023333. New York : 

Clarion Books, 1994. 

HBB, 0395681863, list price: $16.00. 

Fic. Diaries--Fiction; Middle Ages--Fiction; England- 

-Fiction. 169 p. ; 24 cm. 

Grades 7-9. Rating : 5, recommended with caution. 

In Catherine, Called Birdy, Karen Cushman 

gives a unique account of life in a small English 

manor in 1290. Catherine is called Little Bird, 

or Birdy, because of her love for birds; she keeps 

a caged collection of different birds in her 

chamber so she can hear their chirping. Before 

her fourteenth birthday, her brother Edward 

encourages her "to write an account of my 

days." Her mother permits Little Bird, when 

writing her daily journal, to put off the 

disagreeable tasks she needs to master as a 

"lady." Catherine's greedy father arranges a 

marriage for her that serves his own economic 

advantage. Since she has no desire to be "sold 

like a cheese," the high-spirited and rebellious 

Birdy manages by various strategies to get rid of 

five undesirable suitors. However, middle-aged 

Shaggy Beard is not deterred, and Catherine is 

betrothed against her will. In the months that 

follow, she begins to become resigned to her 

unhappy future. But an unexpected twist of fate 

leaves both Catherine and her parents content. 

Author Karen Cushman weaves many details 

about everyday life in the Middle Ages into her 

sparkling word picture of a creative teenage girl 

who is unusually resistant to her place in society. 

Catherine occasionally paints or writes poems, 

some showing respect for God and Heaven and 

Hell. One interesting detail, for each entry, a 

note about its Saint’s Day Feast accompanies the 

date. 

Through the year, Catherine is surprised to find 

that others have quite different perspectives. In 

fact, she occasionally observes events that 

challenge some of her own preconceptions. 

However, Catherine consistently exhibits a 

negative attitude toward her father; she 

occasionally wishes his death, and also Shaggy 

Beard's. Around fifty times she uses her own 

invented profanity, "God's thumbs," or other 

profane terms. She often reveals a pre-Victorian 

frankness about physical excretory and 

reproductive activity. 

This otherwise excellent book is recommended 

for contexts where these elements would not be 

problematic. This title is a Newbery Honor 

book, 1995. The next year, another Cushman 

book about the Middle Ages, The Midwife's 

Apprentice (Clarion Books, 1995), received the 

Newbery Medal. 


Cody's varsity rush / Todd Hafer. (Spirit 

of the game series ; 5.) LCCN 

2005004292. Grand Rapids, Mich. : 


PAP, 0310707943, list price: $4.99. 

Fic. Schools--Fiction; High schools--Fiction; Conduct 

of life--Fiction; Football--Fiction; Christian life-- 

Fiction. 134 p. : ill. ; 18 cm. 



Three-point play / Todd Hafer. (Spirit of 

the game series ; 6.) LCCN 2005006501. 

Grand Rapids, Mich. : Zonderkidz, 2005. 

PAP, 0310707951, list price: $4.99. 

Fic. Schools--Fiction; High schools--Fiction; Conduct 

of life--Fiction; Remarriage--Fiction; Leadership-- 

Fiction; Basketball--Fiction; Football--Fiction; 

Christian life--Fiction. 142 p. : ill. ; 18 cm. 


Cody’s Varsity Rush begins with Cody as a 

stand-out player on the freshman team, but 

before the season progresses too far he’s pulled 

up to varsity. The play-by-play descriptions of 

Cody’s practices and games are in such detail 

that even non-football players will understand 

the psychology and strategy of the game. There 

are some off-field dramas as backdrops to 

Cody’s season. He is being stalked by an old 

foe, his father and Beth are engaged leaving 

Cody to wonder where he fits in, and his friend 

Robyn is challenging him to be public with his 

faith in God. And as always, the pain of his 

mom’s death a couple of years earlier frames 

Cody’s struggles. Because there are so many 

dramas going on in this story, it is a bit choppier 

than earlier books, but it is still a good read for 

this age range. 

In Three-Point-Play, Cody and Pork Chop move 

into basketball season. Pork Chop tells him 

he’ll be moving at the end of the school year. 

They’re on different level teams so most of the 

book revolves around Cody discovering servant 

leadership while captaining his freshman 

basketball team. The backdrop is his dad’s 

marriage to Beth. With his world changing 

rapidly, the only mainstay in his life is God. 

Fortunately, Robyn and many others who know 

the Lord pray for Cody and support him. And 

there’s even a moment where it looks like Pork 

Chop might someday understand this “Jesus 

thing.” The book ends in uncertainty but 

fortunately, two more books will be published 

soon. 

These two most recent books in the Spirit of the 

Game series from Zonderkidz have Cody 

Martin approaching high school sports the way 

he approaches everything else in life. He’s 

cautiously optimistic and harder on himself than 

anyone else could ever be. Author Todd Hafer 

once again captures Cody’s insecurities, fears, 

and triumphs in language believable to the 

young reader. The tension Cody feels towards 

his father’s marriage is palpable but not harsh. 

Cody’s approach to his faith is also credible for 

this age group. He feels his conviction deeply, 

but doesn’t want to stand out from the crowd. 

Although these two volumes are not as smooth 

in their plot development as are the earlier 

books, this is a well-written series that a 

librarian can easily recommend for those boys 

who only want to read books about sports. 



Eldest / by Christopher Paolini. 

(Inheritance ; 2.) LCCN 2005009325. 

New York : Alfred A. Knopf, 2005. 


Fic. Fantasy; Dragons--Fiction; Youths' writings. 704 

p. ; 25 cm. 


In book one of the Inheritance Trilogy, Eragon 

weathers a long journey and a fierce battle but 

emerges the surprised victor in a deadly contest 

of magical and physical power. However, there 

is little rest for the weary Dragon Rider, for this 

teenager must now deal with politics among his 

allies, the foes of the evil ruler Galbatorix. After 

he threads this labyrinth, having set his alliances 

in order, Eragon (with his dragon, Saphira) 

makes for the land of the elves to undergo 

desperately needed training. 

Meanwhile, Eragon’s half-brother Roran must 

deal with the frightening and unreal politics the 

Dragon Rider’s departure has created for the 

residents of his former home in Palancar Valley. 

Christopher Paolini’s tale Eldest is more 

satisfyingly adult (in the best sense of that term) 

and complex than his first offering, with a few 

interesting characters and situations thrown in 

along with believable descriptions of unrequited 

love. His characters have matured noticeably 

along with their creator. More noticeable, too, 

however, are Paolini’s political views. Preachy 

lines and digs at organized religion (especially 

from a few elves to whom Paolini gives a pulpit) 

punctuate the volume. Yet some of the authors 

views are thought-provoking and are woven 

well into his story—especially when he raises 

the question of the worth of the life of an Urgal, 

the equivalent of one of Tolkien’s orcs. 

Eldest has some questionable ethics at points, 

sketchily depicts a nude elfin dance, and might 

suffer from a deus ex machina or two, but 

anyone who enjoyed Eragon will enjoy this 

dragon ride and the surprising twist in its final 

pages. 

Mark L. Ward, Jr. PhD candidate. Research Assistant/National 

Newsletter Editor, Bob Jones University’s J. S. Mack Library, 

Greenville, South Carolina. 

Enemy brothers / Constance Savery. 

LCCN 00108548. Bathgate, N.D. : 

Bethlehem Books, 2001. 

PAP, 1883937507, list price: $13.95. 

Fic. World War, 1939-1945--England--Juvenile 

fiction; World War, 1939-1945--England--Fiction; 

Missing persons--Fiction; Identity--Fiction; Brothers-- 

Fiction; England--Fiction. 287 p. ; 22 cm. 


First published in 1943, Enemy Brothers tells 

the story of Max Eckermannn, a boy raised in 

Nazi Germany who discovers he’s really British 

and named Tony Ingelford; he was kidnapped as 

a child by the woman he thought was his mother. 

Brought by the Inglefords to their English estate, 

Max/Tony is naturally rebellious, but oldest 

brother Dym makes a deal: like a cat, Tony’s 


given nine chances to escape. Dym will forgive 

each. But if Tony escapes a tenth time, there’ll 

be a “serious row.” Of course Tony uses every 

chance to escape. But each time he’s returned to 

the Ingelfords, the love they show him makes 

him less eager to leave. Just when he decides to 

stay, he gets a chance to go home. 

Constance Savery does a brilliant job creating 

realistic dialog and a compelling plot. The 

characters are terrific. Tony is both wrathful and 

vulnerable, hating these strangers, yet unable to 

resist their kindness. And the entire Ingleford 

family, especially Dym, sister Euphemia, and 

brother James (who’s nearly Tony’s age) are 

vividly portrayed. 

The Inglefords are Christians, but their faith is 

subtly shown. There’s regular church 

attendance, evening prayer, and most especially, 

a reliance on God’s direction in fighting the war. 

The crucifixion of Christ, for instance, is labeled 

part of the “darkness of men’s souls” that causes 

evil. 

The language of Enemy Brothers, as well as its 

complexity of plot (the book reads like an adult 

spy novel), make it best for voracious readers or 

mid-teens, although the fact that Tony’s only 

twelve might turn off older readers. That Dym 

finds Tony after years of having no idea where 

he is a bit coincidental. However, the book is 

highly entertaining, and will make a nice 

addition to any library. 


Here today / Ann M. Martin. LCCN 

2004041620. New York : Scholastic, 2004. 

HBB, 0439579449, list price: $16.95. 

Fic. Identity--Fiction; Mothers--Fiction; Family life-- 

New York (State)--Fiction; Prejudices--Fiction; 

Neighborhood--Fiction; Schools--Fiction; New York 

(State)--History--20th century--Fiction. 308 p. ; 21 

cm. 


Her eleventh year is one that turns life topsyturvy 

for Eleanor Roosevelt Dingman. That 

year, 1963, her mother is crowned the Bosetti 

Beauty of Spectacle, New York, Ellie’s 

classmates begin to treat her as if she is invisible 

and the President is assassinated. Here Today is 

Ann Martin’s story of Ellie’s life as she tries to 

hold her family—and herself—together and 

realizes she ultimately has little control over 

what others do, even those closest to her. 

Ellie’s mother abandons her family to set off for 

the Big Apple and pursue her dreams of 

becoming an actress and making her mark on 

the world. This leaves Ellie in the role of 

caretaker of her younger siblings while trying to 

fit in at school. Yet she always believes her 

mother loves her and longs for her return. 

Ellie is a wonderfully rich character that readers 

will connect with and be rooting for throughout 

the reading of Here Today. The book is written 



for upper elementary and middle school students 

(5-8 grade) and deserves a place on school and 

library bookshelves. 


A long way from Welcome : a mystery in 

Paris / Echo Lewis. LCCN 2002102849. 

Bathgate, N.D. : Bethlehem Books, 2002. 

PAP, 1883937647, list price: $12.95. 

Fic. Self-confidence--Fiction; Interpersonal relations-- 

Fiction; Artists--Fiction; Nuns--Fiction; Mystery and 

detective stories; Paris (France)--Fiction; France-- 

Fiction. 183 p. : ill., maps ; 21 cm. 


Maggie McGilligan is a short, chunky, bookish 

thirteen year old who’s very fond of the familiar 

—and very frightened of change. So when a 

family situation forces her to spend six weeks in 

Paris in the care of her stepfather’s sister (a 

woman she’s never met), Maggie is appalled. 

A Long Way from Welcome is a pleasantlywritten 

story. There’s light mystery (why does 

the most powerful man in Maggie’s hometown 

want to banish Maggie’s stepfather? Who’s 

stealing famous Parisian artworks?) and strong 

friendships (Maggie befriends local boy Jean- 

Louis and tries to help Tanya, her poor little rich 

girl American friend, get along with her alwaysbusy 

father). There’s also a nice look at a fearful 

girl who learns to appreciate (if not like) change. 

Despite a passing reference to Maggie’s being 

born out of wedlock, the story’s an innocent one, 

more reminiscent of pre-1970s Nancy Drews 

than today’s problem novels. Maggie is 

likeable, despite her timidity, and her friendships 

with Jean-Louis and Tanya ring true. She is a bit 

young for her age, though. The book claims to 

be for girls twelve and up; it’s better suited to 

eight to twelve year olds. 

Maggie’s stepfather is Catholic, and his sister, 

the woman Maggie stays with in Paris, is a nun 

(she lives in a convent), but there’s no real 

emphasis on religion or doctrine. Some adults 

might be concerned that Jean-Louis lies to his 

parents to sneak out and sleuth; similarly, he and 

Maggie roam Paris at midnight with no 

consequences. Yes they get captured by villains, 

but the “good” adults barely scold them when 

everything’s done. 

These, however, are quibbles. Echo Lewis has 

written a richly-detailed, fast-moving adventure 

with a strong sense of its Parisian setting. Girls, 

especially mystery fans, will love A Long Way 

from Welcome. 


Missy Violet & me / by Barbara 

Hathaway. LCCN 2003017700. Boston : 

Houghton Mifflin, 2004. 


Fic. Midwives--Fiction; Birth--Fiction; African 

Americans--Fiction. 100 p. ; 19 cm. 


Barbara Hathaway received a 2005 Coretta 

Scott King/ John Steptoe New Talent Award for 

this slim book filled with her mother’s 

recollections about a relative who served as a 

midwife in the early 1900s South. Viney’s 

mother has just had another baby, her seventh, 

and her father James again cannot pay the 

midwife Missy Violet. Missy Violet suggests 

that Viney become her apprentice for the 

summer. Spunky, sassy Viney is not too thrilled 

about not being able to play away the summer, 

until she can use the midwifery experience to 

thwart the jibes of nasty Margie Poole. At first 

Viney trails along while Missy Violet collects 

herbs, then is in attendance at a birth, and finally 

actually “catches a baby.” 

The book was fascinating reading for this adult 

reviewer, but she wonders whether this is really 

a children’s or young adult book or another book 

honoring, via reminiscences, a loved relative. 

The protagonist is just eleven; today’s eleven 

year old would find it difficult to conceive being 

a midwife’s apprentice or being used as payment 

for services. The dialect gets in the way for the 

general middle school reader, especially if he 

has had no experience with black southern 

language. An academic project might involve 

comparing Karen Cushman’s Newbery Award 

medieval setting title The Midwife’s Apprentice 

(Clarion, 1995). Purchase only where and when 

and if needed. 



The moves make the man / by Bruce 

Brooks. LCCN 83049476. New York : 

HarperCollins, 1984. 

LIB, 0060206985, list price: $16.89. 

Fic. African Americans--Fiction; Emotional 

problems--Fiction; Friendship--Fiction; Newbery 

Honor. 280 p. ; 21 cm. 


Jerome, the Jayfox, is really a street smart, 

school smart kid who suddenly finds himself 

integrated as the token Afro-American student at 

an all white school. His hopes of playing on the 

basketball team are left on the gym floor when 

the coach can’t look past his prejudice to see 

Jerome’s natural talent. This letdown takes a 

backseat to the crisis of having his mother 

severely hurt in an accident. Jerome is placed in 

home economics so he can learn to cook for his 

brothers, and finds himself paired with the only 

other boy, Bix, who is a talented shortstop. A 

friendship develops as both boys learn about one 

another through the moves they teach one 

another on and off the basketball court. This is 

Bix’s story, as much as it is Jerome’s. For Bix 

will need all the moves it takes in order to win 

the game that determines if he gets to see his 

estranged mother. 

It is understandable why Bruce Brooks was 

awarded the Newberry Honor. This stream of 

consciousness told story of life through a young 

Afro-American boy is poignant, humorous, and 

real. Although there is profanity, it comes late 

into the story and is mostly uttered by Bix, who 

is emotionally hurting. It is within character, 

and gives the storyline more of a realistic edge. 

Jerome, for the most part, is an upstanding son, 

friend, and student, yet he knows all about how 

to survive the disappointments that come his 

way without folding up. The book is unique in 

its presentation, as there is no traditional 

dialogue form, giving the story a rawness that 

rings true. Though Jerome is portrayed as a 

middle-schooler, he and the story he tells would 

also appeal to high school students. 

Pam Webb, BA. Freelance Writer, Sandpoint, Idaho. 

No shame, no fear / Ann Turnbull. LCCN 

2003065280. Cambridge, Mass. : 

Candlewick Press, 2004. 

HBB, 0763625051, list price: $15.99. 

Fic. Persecution--Fiction; Quakers--Fiction; Social 

classes--Fiction; Great Britain--History--Charles II, 

1660-1685--Fiction. 293 p. ; 21 cm. 


Set in England in 1662, No Shame, No Fear is a 

harrowing tale of star-crossed lovers, religious 

persecution, and social class discrimination. 

Susanna, a poor Quaker girl, and William, the 

son of a prominent Anglican wool merchant, 

meet and fall deeply in love. Shortly after 

William begins attending Quaker meetings, 

England passes a law forbidding non-Anglican 

religious assemblies. As they continue meeting 

openly, many of Susanna’s dearest friends and 

family are thrown into jail and forced to live in 

squalid conditions. The Quaker belief, “the light 

of God is within every man—and woman—so 

[Quakers] do not recognize differences of rank,” 

prompts the government to pass this decree. 

Lawmakers were afraid this theory would lead 

society into chaos. Fear led to persecution. 

This Quaker theological tenant of the light 

within each individual has been interpreted in 

different ways by varying sects of Quakerism 

since it originated in the1600’s. Reading No 

Shame, No Fear provides an excellent 

opportunity for discussion of this matter as well 

as freedom of religion, intellectual freedom, 

bullying, purity, gender roles, and the pros and 

cons of marrying at a young age. 

There are a few references to prostitution, 

drinking, gambling, and also a couple of 

incidents of inappropriate touching between 

characters, all appropriately working within the 

storyline. Hopefully, discussion of this book 

will allow high school students an opportunity 

to think critically about the way they live their 

lives and how they treat others. This fast paced 

novel offers a lot for readers to ponder. 

Tinna D. Mills, Young Adult Services Specialist, Chippewa River 

District Library, Mt. Pleasant, Michigan. 


Phantom outlaw at Wolf Creek / by 

Sigmund Brouwer. (Accidental detectives 

; 15.) LCCN 2004020611. Minneapolis : 

Bethany House, 2005. 

PAP,0 764225782, list price: $5.99. 

Fic. Christian life--Fiction; Ranch life--Fiction; 

Mystery and detective stories. 141 p. ; 21 cm. 


Short cuts / by Sigmund Brouwer. 

(Accidental detectives ; 16.) LCCN 

2004020613. Minneapolis : Bethany 

House, 2005. 

PAP, 0764225790, list price: $5.99. 

Fic. Christian life--Fiction; Conduct of life--Fiction; 

Mystery and detective stories. 139 p. ; 21 cm. 


The ghost of a woman outlaw haunts the hills 

near the Montana ranch where Ricky Kidd and 

his friends are staying. Making things more 

exciting: a crazed hermit and cattle rustlers are 

also roaming the area. 

That’s the plot of The Phantom Outlaw of Wolf 

Creek, part of Sigmund Brouwer’s Accidental 

Detectives boys’ mysteries. It’s a nice addition 

to the series. Ricky, brother Joel, and best 

friends Mike and Ralphy are here, there’s a 

multi-layered mystery for them to solve, and 

there’s the usual warm relationship between 

characters. Ricky claims six-year-old Joel is a 

terrible pest, but the love he feels for his brother 

is clearly shown, and Ricky’s friends—superextroverted 

Mike and nerdy Ralphy—each 

make valued contributions to the plot. While 

Lisa doesn’t appear, another strong girl 

character, Mike’s cousin Sarah, plays just as 

important a role. 

Short Cuts is a series of stories about the 

characters that uses the device of Ricky 

interviewing Sigmund Brouwer to let Brouwer 

comment on what he hopes readers will learn 

from each story. While obviously not as richly 

plotted as the novel, the stories are still 

compelling, focusing on mini-adventures that 

allow the characters to consider concepts like 

why bad things happen, why a person should 

live his or her life to its fullest, and whether God 

is real. 

While Brouwer is a brilliant writer and his 

comments on each Short Cut are powerful, I’m 

not sure readers in the youngest end of the 

juvenile fiction group would fully appreciate 

their depth. But since the stories mirror 

Brouwer’s message, and since Ricky and his 

friends show such a strong faith in God, readers 

will surely get Brouwer’s points, one way or 

another. 

Both books are must-haves for Accidental 

Detectives fans, and great introductions to the 

series for everyone else. 


Rifles for Watie / by Harold Keith. LCCN 

57010280. New York : HarperCollins, 

1987, 1957. 

HBB, 0690049072, list price: $16.89. 

Fic. Watie, Stand, 1806-1871 --Fiction; United States- 

-History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Fiction. 352 p :. ill. ; 

21 cm. 


When some proslavery Missouri bushwhackers 

cross the border into Kansas in 1861 to attack 

his “Free State” family, sixteen-year-old Jeff 

Bussey enlists in the Union volunteers. Over the 

next few years, he endures repeated spiteful 

conduct by Captain Clardy as he serves in 

infantry, artillery, cavalry, and finally as a scout 

for the Union army. While scouting in Rebel 

territory, he and his buddy are confronted by 

Confederate soldiers, and arrange to join their 

Rebel Watie brigade in order to gain intelligence 

for the Union. 

After an attack of malaria takes him out of 

action for months, Jeff learns that the 

Confederate General Stand Watie has plans to 

acquire smuggled new repeater rifles. This 

would give Watie’s Rebel Indian forces a 

decided military advantage. When Jeff 

discovers the details of the scheme, he escapes 

from Rebel trackers and reports his findings to 

his Union commander. 

Author Harold Keith compiled much of the 

background for Rifles for Watie during research 

for a master’s thesis in history at the University 

of Oklahoma. Although Jeff and his absorbing 

story are wholly fictional, many of the 

characters and events in the often-neglected 

Western theater of the Civil War are historically 

accurate. (An author’s note details the 

distinctions.) Jeff’s experiences in Kansas, 

Missouri, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Texas give 

him a sympathetic understanding of the varying 

perspectives of competing Indian factions, as 

well as Union and Confederate forces and their 

supporters. (He even falls in love with an 

educated Cherokee young lady from a Rebel 

family.) 

Jeff is a well-rounded character who grows as he 

learns that war is not pretty. In one touching 

scene he encourages a dying young friend as he 

explains to him how only Jesus can save him. A 

map at the front of the book shows major sites in 

the story. Highly recommended for home and 

Christian school libraries. Newbery Medal 

1958. 


Sam I am / Ilene Cooper. LCCN 

2004041715. New York : Scholastic, 2004. 

HBB, 0439439671, list price: $15.95. 

Fic. Family life--Fiction; Religions--Fiction; Identity- 

-Fiction; Interpersonal relations--Fiction; Christmas-- 

Fiction; Hanukkah--Fiction. 252 p. ; 22 cm. 



Twelve-year-old Sam has always celebrated 

Christmas with a Hannukah bush. This year, 

unfortunately, his dog, Pluto, ruins both holidays 

with a mad dash through the living room. 

Worse, the disposal of the tree symbolizes the 

collision of his father’s non-religious 

Jewishness and his mother’s lukewarm 

Christianity. Trying to sort out which is correct, 

Sam asks questions of everyone. In school he 

learns about the Holocaust and how he would 

have fared as a half-Jewish child. Encountering 

bigotry gives Sam a lens through which he 

views children who were formerly just 

classmates. When he visits church with his 

mom, he feels peace and love, but no answers. 

It is not until Sam’s father is involved in a 

serious car accident that the whole family takes 

a hard look at what should unite them, rather 

than drive them apart. 

Sam I Am is a touching portrayal of children in 

mixed religion families when adolescence 

prompts them to identify themselves as 

individuals. Sensitive, loving, and sometimes 

brutally honest, Ilene Cooper’s portrayal of Sam 

takes him through several experiences that help 

him frame the questions he needs to ask. In the 

end, the whole family decides to respect each 

other’s choices and beliefs. To let each person 

decide for themselves who God is and how they 

want to follow Him. 



A season of dreams / Sharon Westra. 

Baltimore : PublishAmerica, 2003. 

PAP, 1592868436, list price: $19.95. 

Fic. Teenagers--Fiction; Friendship--Fiction. 210 p. ; 

22 cm. 


The rest of forever / Sharon Westra. 

Baltimore : PublishAmerica, 2004. 

PAP, 1413728014, list price: $19.95. 

Fic. Christian life--Fiction; College students--Fiction. 

202 p. ; 23 cm. 


A Season of Dreams is the story of Katie 

Fremont, a high school senior who moves with 

her family to Washington State. She relies on 

her cousin, Diana, to help her adjust to the 

changes the move brings to her life. Diana 

introduces Katie to the Anderson brothers, Steve 

and Wayne, who are friends of hers, and they all 

begin their senior year together in a Christian 

school. Katie falls in love with Steve, the 

athletic Anderson boy who seems to have 

everything going for him, and they become 

engaged. But when Steve is killed on his way 

home to visit Katie on Valentine's Day, Katie's 

whole life crashes down. Will Wayne come to 

the rescue of Katie's heart? 

The Rest of Forever is the sequel to A Season of 

Dreams and continues the story about Katie 

Fremont and Wayne Anderson. Wayne and 

Katie are falling in love, but Steve's memory is 



a constant roadblock to their relationship. As 

Katie struggles to let go of the bittersweet 

memories of the past, she also lets go of God's 

loving hand and becomes lost in her faith. 

Wayne feels as if he will never be able to banish 

Steve's memory from Katie's heart, and finally 

gives Katie a choice—put Steve in the past and 

return to the land of the living, or lose him for 

good. Now, college students away from home, 

Katie and Wayne are surrounded by friends to 

help them figure it all out, but will Katie move 

in to Wayne's and God's loving arms once 

again? 

Sharon Westra captures and holds the reader's 

attention throughout the books, and I felt a deep 

sadness when Steve was killed. As Katie learns 

to trust God once again in her life, she 

rediscovers the hope for the future she once had 

with Steve, only now with Wayne by her side. 

Teens will recognize the strong emotions that 

falling in love can evoke, and will experience 

the camaraderie of enduring friendships. Katie 

learns that trusting in God is essential for 

happiness in life, as her well-laid plans for her 

future crumble into dust. The only negative 

comment I have is the constantly wavering 

indecisions of Wayne and Katie became 

annoying and tedious after countless breakups 

and reconciliations in The Rest of Forever. 

Katie's hesitation of becoming involved with 

Wayne so soon after Steve's death is 

understandable, but the constant waffling seems 

a bit overdone. 


Trouble times two / by Marsha Hubler. 

(Keystone Stables ; 3.) LCCN 


2005. 

PAP, 0310705746, list price: $4.99. 

Fic. Horses--Fiction; Foster home care--Fiction; 

Christian life--Fiction; Runaways--Fiction; African 

Americans--Fiction; Pennsylvania--Fiction. 120 p. ; 

18 cm. 


Trouble Times Two, by Marsha Hubler, is part of 

the Keystone Stables series. Tanya, an 

especially troubled foster child, learns to love a 

mare who dies after giving birth to a beautiful 

foal. Mourning the animal’s demise causes 

Tanya to relive her own mother’s death. In time 

Tanya “invite(s) Jesus into her heart,” lets go of 

her bitterness, and faces a hopeful future with 

adoptive parents. 

This selection is a great choice for any public or 

church library. Young readers will think about 

adoption, race relations, a child feeling 

unwanted, peer pressure, and foster care. 

Exciting, but believable, events follow one right 

after the other. A minor, but important part of 

the book, is Tanya’s too-busy adoptive parents. 

They eventually choose a less hectic life and 

buy a farm. Tanya looks forward to owning a 

horse after her foster family present her with the 

beloved foal she loves so much. 

Conversations are typical for young teens. Plots 

are neatly organized, and each chapter ends with 

some event to make the reader curious. Always, 

you’ll note a little invitation to flip on to the next 

chapter! 

Appendices include a Glossary of Gaits, Parts of 

a Horse, and Parts of a Western Saddle. In 

addition, the last few pages are an introduction 

to another Keystone Stables book, Teamwork at 

Tioga. For more information, see 

www.zondervan.com. 



Worlds apart / Kathleen Karr. LCCN 

2004019455. New York : Marshall 

Cavendish, 2005. 

HBB, 0761451951, list price: $15.95. 

Fic. Indians of North America--South Carolina-- 

Fiction; Sewee Indians--Fiction; Friendship--Fiction; 

Survival--Fiction; Colonists--Fiction; South Carolina-- 

History--Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775--Fiction. 196 

p. ; 22 cm. 


In this deeply researched historical novel, the 

reader is drawn into the mutual story of two 

young men who are truly worlds apart. Arriving 

in Virginia in 1670, fifteen-year-old Christopher 

is one of the early settlers from England. Ashapo, 

a Sewee Indian lad, goes out of his way to 

befriend Christopher. As the story unfolds, 

similarities and disparities between these two 

are explored. Fun, humor, mutual friendship, 

stunning differences, apprehension, and sorrow 

all play a part in the growing friendship. 

Tension builds as the terrible possibilities arising 

from a distinctly unusual ending begins to loom 

in the reader’s mind. 

Multiple award winning author, prolific writer, 

capable history detective, Kathleen Karr, 

presents little known American history in an 

engrossing format. The plot uncoils slowly and 

persuasively while the characterizations draw 

the performers as complete and interesting 

people. A study into inter cultural relationships, 

many comparisons are drawn between these two 

groups including religion, care for the 

environment, differences in facing dangers, 

friendship’s demands and joys, and everyday 

life. Karr’s careful and thorough research and 

empathy for history’s players makes Worlds 

Apart a genuine adventure in America’s 

heritage. Recommended for all libraries and 

schools, this book will be of special interest to 

budding history detectives. 


A year down yonder / Richard Peck. 

LCCN 99043159. New York : Dial Books 

for Young Readers, 2000. 

HBB, 0803725183, list price: $16.99. 

Fic. Grandmothers--Fiction; Depressions--1929-- 

Fiction; Country life--Illinois--Fiction; Illinois-- 



Chicago still struggles in the grip of The Great 

Depression in 1937. Mary Alice Dowdel’s 

father has lost his job, forcing the family to give 

up their apartment. Her brother, Joey, sixteen, 

has joined the Civilian Conservation Corps to 

help the family and is sent out West. Mary 

Alice, along with her mother and father, relocate 

to the city where they find a small “light 

housekeeping” room. This, however, is of little 

consolation. The room is not big enough for 

three people, and Mary Alice needs to finish her 

education. With regret, she agrees to leave her 

parents to go live with Grandma Dowdel in a 

small “hick town” in Illinois. 

Mary Alice’s vivid memories of past visits with 

Grandma Dowdel leave her uneasy. Her 

grandmother’s usual pursuits include deriving 

pleasure from misleading self-important and 

portentous people in order to bestow justice on 

the underdog. Grandma Dowdel scorns social 

skills and is famous for carrying a rifle and 

knowing how to use it. 

Knowing that the kids in this tiny town look on 

her as the “rich girl from Chicago,” Mary Alice 

is filled with apprehension as she awaits her 

Grandma at the train station, with her cat 

Bootsie and her Philco radio. 

Richard Peck’s book, A Long Way From 

Chicago, was a 1999 Newbery Honor book; the 

author received the coveted Newbery Medal 

with this sequel, AYear Down Yonder. His 

knowledge of the Depression era, and his unique 

humor, create a hilarious year for Mary Alice 

and Grandma Dowdel. His style shines as he 

rewards the reader with a poignant, surprisefilled 

ending. 

With description, language, and vivid detail, 

Peck litters this book with historical facts that 

will strengthen classroom lessons on this period. 

Adults will enjoy the author’s humor, and his 

passion for family. 

Maxine Cambra. Freelance Writer, Sunday School Teacher; 

Anderson, California. 


BOOK REVIEWS YOUNG ADULT NONFICTION 

The Facts on File guide to research / by 

Jeff Lenburg. (Facts on File library of 

language and literature.) LCCN 

2004018941. New York : Facts on File, 

2005. 

HBB, 0816057419, list price: $45.00. 

025.5/24. Library research--Handbooks, manuals, 

etc.; Research--Methodology--Handbooks, manuals, 

etc.; Information retrieval--Handbooks, manuals, etc. 

xxxii, 560 p. ; 24 cm. 


Lenburg, author of fourteen popular nonfiction 

books, is a part-time instructor on research and 

writing. He brings a great deal of wealth to this 

subject for students and general readers who 

need to prepare research papers and class 

studies. This guide succeeds in being a 

comprehensive map to doing thorough and 

accurate research. Appendices cover style 

guides, including APA, MLA and The Chicago 

Manual of Style. 

Section II, finding sources of information, 

reaches out to a wide audience for it offers 

concrete suggestions and examples of how to 

find a variety of information sources, all the way 

from finding associations and societies, to 

electronic databases, to email discussions 

groups and newsgroups, and government 

publications and agencies. 

All size libraries can utilize this general 

introductory volume for it offers valuable tips 

for beginners and more experienced students of 

all ages. It also enables users to find sources by 

topic with detailed listings of selected books, 

and print and Web indexes, for subjects from 

aging to women’s studies. Those having 

Complete Idiot’s Guide to Writing Research 

Papers (Alpha, 2004) and serving primarily 

ninth and tenth graders need not update. Those 

seeking a comprehensive guide for older 

secondary students, undergraduate students and 

adult learners would do well to review The 

Facts on File Guide to Research. 



Biotechnology and genetic engineering / 

Lisa Yount. Rev. ed. (Library in a book.) 

LCCN 2003064223. New York : Facts on 

File, 2004. 

HBB, 0816050597, list price: $40.50. 

303.48. Genetic engineering--Social aspects; 

Biotechnology--Social aspects. 316 p. ; 24 cm. 


Beginning with a broad overview of genetic 

engineering, Biotechnology and Genetic 

Engineering, revised ed. by Lisa Yount, 

addresses a wide and often controversial topic 

with a slight leaning towards liberal ethics. 

From early biotechnology in ancient agriculture 

and the discovery of chromosomes in 1875, to 

the controversy over genetically altered plants 

of today, the book provides an overview of a 

vast wealth of information. It addresses (but 

wisely does not attempt to settle) concerns such 

as cloning and embryonic stem cell research. 

Anyone conducting research on the subject will 

be pleased with the extensive bibliography, 

index, and suggested websites, articles, and 

books, and tips on researching biotechnology 

and genetic engineering. All of these topics are 

well organized into easy-to-use sections. 

Biotechnology also presents the legal aspects of 

its subject, particularly DNA testing, genetic 

discrimination, the patenting of biotechnology, 

and the effects of court decisions in each case. It 

includes summaries of court cases in the body of 

the book. The actual court cases themselves are 

in the detailed appendices. The in-depth 

chronology, biographical listing, glossary, 

annotated bibliography, list of organizations and 

agencies, appendices, and index make this book 

exactly what it claims to be: a library’s worth of 

information in a single reference book, and an 

excellent starting point for serious research. 

Kathryn Stillman. Christian Writers’ Guild Apprentice, Horn Lake, 

Mississippi. 

Dragons of the deep / written by Carl 

Wieland ; illustrated by Darrell Wiskur. 

LCCN 2004118183. Green Forest, Ark. : 

Master Books, 2005. 

HBB, 0890514240, list price: $15.99. 

591.92. Sea monsters--Juvenile literature; Marine 

animals--Juvenile literature; Marine animals. 79 p. : 

col. ill., col. maps ; 29 cm. 


A fine paleontology textbook firmly based in 

creationism, Dragons of the Deep presents an 

interesting group of ocean dwelling monsters 

from the past, and the present. Students will 

enjoy reading about these huge creatures, how 

they correlate with Bible material, correctly 

interpreting fossils, some of the mistakes made 

by scientists in the past, and interesting data 

from this science and the critters studied. An 

adequate index capably closes this volume. 

CEO of the creation-based Australian ministry 

Answers in Genesis, prolific author of germane 

articles and books, Dr. Carl Wieland brings his 

own research and expertise as well as that 

gained from colleagues to the writing of 

Dragons of the Deep. All specimens discussed 

are solidly approached from a biblical, scientific 

viewpoint. The subject itself is engrossing, and 

Wieland’s handling of it captures the 

intelligence and imagination. Well known for 

his Dinky Dinosaur picture books, Darrell 

Wiskur’s large, bright, lifelike, detailed acrylic 

illustrations capably amplify the narration. 

Of special interest to Christian schools, home 

schoolers, and church groups, scientifically 

accurate Dragons of the Deep will also be of 

value to any group or school seeking to provide 

creationism as well as evolution. 


The Facts on File dictionary of physics / 

edited by John Daintith, Richard Rennie. 

4th ed. (Facts on File science library.) 


File, 2005. 

HBB, 0816056536, list price: $45.00. 

530/.03. Physics--Dictionaries. x, 278 p. : ill., 

diagrams ; 24 cm. 


The Facts on File dictionary of biology / 

edited by Robert Hine. 4th ed. (Facts on 

File science library.) LCCN 2005040698. 

New York : Facts on File, 2005. 

HBB, 0816056471, list price: $45.00. 

570/.3. Biology--Dictionaries. x, 406 p. : ill., 



The Facts on File dictionary of 

mathematics / edited by John Daintith, 

John Clark. 4th ed. (Facts on File science 

library.) LCCN 2005048762. New York : 

Facts on File, 2005. 


510/.3. Mathematics--Dictionaries. x, 262 p. : ill., 



The Facts on File dictionary of chemistry / 

edited by John Daintith. 4th ed. (Facts on 

File science library.) LCCN 2005043785. 

New York : Facts on File, 2005. 

HBB, 0816056498, list price: $45.00. 

540/.3. Chemistry--Dictionaries. x, 310 p. : ill., 




YOUNG ADULT NONFICTION 

These dictionaries, extensively revised and 

extended, are designed for use in schools. 

Intended for students of the respective science, 

each offers a list of Web sites and a bibliography. 

In addition to 60 to 130 line drawings, a guide to 

using the dictionary explains its main features. 

As in earlier editions, the definitions are concise 

and easy for most secondary and undergraduate 

students to understand. Some line drawings in 

each volume help to clarify the definition. 

New to each edition is the inclusion of 

pronunciations for terms that are not in everyday 

use. 

The previous edition for each title was published 

in 1999. Each contains more than 300 new 

entries reflecting advances in the discipline. 

The low cost makes this a title worthy of 

consideration for a technical dictionary in a 

small or medium sized library, in a school 

library, or in a college library. Those having 

McGraw-Hill, Oxford or Penguin science 

dictionaries should update if having a copyright 

before 2003. 



Winning gymnastics for girls / David 

Porter ; foreword by David A. Feigley. 


File, 2004. 

HBB, 0816052298, list price: $35.00. 

796.44/082. Gymnastics for girls--Juvenile literature; 

Gymnastics. xvi, 159 p. : ill. ; 24 cm. 


This enthusiastic in tone book is for any young 

girl who wants to learn about the wide range of 

gymnastic skills and how to do them. The 

chapters follow the progression from learning 

basic skills to building on these skills with 

advanced techniques and maneuvers. Each 

chapter provides suggested drills. More than 

130 photographs illustrate many of the drills and 

concepts discussed, and an appendix offers 

additional resources. 

One clear advantage for libraries to consider this 

title is its step-by-step concentration on the 

basics, e.g. conditioning starts with warm-up, 

stretching with specifics for head and neck, 

arms, shoulders, and wrist, back and chest, legs, 

knees, ankles, and feet. Each of these specifics 

is also addressed for more advanced 

conditioning, with both the basics and advanced 

techniques presented in a way that girls can 

handle them on their own. 

All public and school libraries can add this 

volume to reach athletes beginning their 

training or needing ideas for more advanced 

development. School libraries can add it to offer 

practical ideas to students for understanding 

what coaches or training exercises emphasize. 



The tarantula scientist / by Sy 

Montgomery ; photographs by Nic 

Bishop. LCCN 2003020125. Boston : 

Houghton Mifflin, 2004. 

HBB, 0618147993, list price: $18.00. 

B or 921 or 595.4/4. Marshall, Samuel D.; Scientists; 

Arachnologists; Spiders; Tarantulas. 80 p. : col. ill. ; 

24 cm. 


Author Sy Montgomery received a 2005 Robert 

F. Sibert Honor Award for nonfiction for The 

Tarantula Spider. Nic Bishop photographed the 

numerous close-up pictures of the tarantulas, 

and scientist Sam Marshall and his team, who 

are studying the spider in French Guiana, 

contributed research. Readers are taken through 

the scientists’ research, following them into the 

jungle habitat, into the tarantula’s burrow, and 

on to Marshall’s spider lab back in Ohio. This 

lab is the only “comparative tarantula lab in the 

world that’s global in reach.” 

Sam not only catalogs each species but also 

conducts experiments to learn, for example, how 

the tarantula finds the silk of its own burrow. 

Tarantula myths are dispelled. As a scientist, 

Marshal wonders about the future of tarantulas 

and their ultimate role in the ecosystem. End 

material includes: spider stats, spider speak, a 

selected bibliography, websites, and information 

about French Guiana. 

Montgomery not only describes the tarantula, 

but her writing extends into the mind of a 

scientist examining how a biologist works while 

conducting his research. The book thus 

becomes a career book as well as a descriptive 

title. It is Nic Bishop’s photographs that will 

draw the browser. Tarantulas have their own 

ghoulish appeal, and the photographs just add to 

that appeal. Arachniphobics will want to keep 

their eyes shut. Not so much a book for the 

simple report which includes habitat, young, 

food, and enemies categories, but one to 

appreciate the tarantula and scientific research. 



E.B. White : spinner of webs and tales / 

Catherine Bernard. (Authors teens love.) 



HBB, 0766023508, list price: $26.60. 

B or 921 or818/.5209. White, E. B. (Elwyn Brooks), 

1899- --Juvenile literature; Authors, American--20th 

century--Biography--Juvenile literature; Children's 

stories--Authorship--Juvenile literature. 104 p. : ill. ; 

24 cm. 


It seems that everyone loves E.B. White’s 

classic Charlotte’s Web, children and adults 

alike. E.B. White: Spinner of Webs and Tales 

gives a close look at the life of this well known 

and well loved author. This book takes you 

from his birth to death, giving readers insight 

into his life, motives and career. Born in 1899 in 

Mount Vernon, New York, Elwyn Brooks White 

(who incidentally hated his name Elwyn) had a 

happy childhood with a family that loved him 

and encouraged him to express himself through 

words. Although he had a long career as a writer 

for The New Yorker, and considered himself an 

essayist and poet, he was best known for his 

children’s books featuring talking animals, and 

particularly for Charlotte’s Web. 

E.B. White: Spinner of Webs and Tales is 

included in the series Authors Teens Love, 

although the cover gives an indication that the 

book is more appropriate to the elementary or 

early middle school reader rather than teens. Yet 

the text and materials would be of interest to 

high school readers as well. Many black and 

white photos of White’s life are interspersed 

with text, and the book concludes with several 

interesting features., Included are a timeline, a 

list of published works, a glossary and also In 

His Own Words, an excerpt from a famous 

interview of E.B. White conducted in 1969. 

Although perhaps not the most exciting 

biography written, readers will satisfy any 

questions they may have about this noted author 

by the reading of Spinner of Web and Tales, and 

certainly gain new information. 



BOOK REVIEWS ADULT FICTION 

Above all earthly powers / Jack 

Cavanaugh. (Songs in the night ; 3.) 

LCCN 2003028169. Minneapolis : 


PAP, 0764223097, list price: $12.99. 

Fic. Berlin Wall, Berlin, Germany, 1961-1989-- 

Fiction; Youth with disabilities--Fiction; Escapes-- 

Fiction; Widows--Fiction; Germany--History--1933- 

1945--Fiction; Berlin (Germany)--Fiction; Germany 

(East)--Fiction; Historical fiction; Christian fiction. 

380 p. ; 22 cm. 


The third and culminating installment in 

Cavanaugh’s award-winning Songs in the Night 

series, Above All Earthly Powers is a gripping 

adventure about the perils faced by World War II 

survivors in Post-Nazi Germany. Mady 

Schumacher, her daughter Elyse, and friend 

Lisette outlived the terrors of Nazi 

extermination facilities, but now endure the 

bleak reality of Communist oppression in 1960’s 

East Germany. 

Surprising reunions with fellow survivors 

inspire the friends to embark on a daunting 

journey. Aided by several unlikely allies, the 

group takes on the heroic task of rescuing 

several handicapped youth and leading them to 

freedom on the other side of the Berlin Wall. 

Each rescuer must exorcise personal demons 

and overcome brutal memories in order to 

complete this mission of liberation, begun 

decades ago by Mady’s late husband, Josef. 

Cavanaugh weaves a powerful tale, once again 

proving himself one of the preeminent writers of 

historical fiction. He makes stunning use of 

details about setting and atmosphere, causing 

the reader to dwell in the same environment of 

despair and urgency as the protagonists. The 

plot twists and turns every which way, but 

Cavanaugh avoids the temptation to 

compromise his story or increase the level of 

apprehension through illogical means. 

Cavanaugh allows for the evolution of several 

characters through their trying circumstances, 

distinguishing the book from others in its genre. 

Ultimately, the story exists not for the sake of 

chills and thrills, but as a tale of the strain 

extraordinary conditions place on the strength of 

the human will. 

While Cavanaugh uses this story to bring 

resolution to his series, he includes enough 

flashbacks and background information to make 

this installment compelling enough to stand 

alone. Above All Earthly Powers is a journey of 

hope and resurrection that will leave even the 

most seasoned reader breathless. 

Aarik Danielsen, BS/BM. Free-lance journalist and worship leader, 

Knoxville, Tennessee. 

* 

Ahab's bride / Louise M. Gouge. (Ahab's 

legacy ; 1.) LCCN 2003012439. Colorado 

Springs : River Oak, 2004. 

PAP, 1589190076, list price: $12.99. 

Fic. Loss (Psychology)--Fiction; Women-- 

Massachusetts--Fiction; Ahab, Captain (Fictitious 

character)--Fiction; Ship captain's spouses--Fiction; 

Nantucket Island (Mass.)--Fiction; Historical fiction; 

Psychological fiction; Christian fiction. 348 p. ; 21 

cm. 

Adult (Grades 10-12). Rating : *5. 

Intelligent and independent, Hannah Oldweiler 

wishes her peers spoke of something besides 

fashion, parties, and the hope of matrimony 

within nineteenth century New Bedford society. 

When long-time admirer Jeremiah Harris brings 

the handsome Captain Ahab to dine with 

Hannah and her father, she is smitten with their 

new guest. An ensuing courtship leads to her 

own marriage and creates concern for both 

Jeremiah and Mr. Oldweiler, who are worried 

about Hannah’s spiritual wellbeing and marital 

happiness. 

To her dismay, headstrong Hannah finds that 

married life and her fierce love for the aging 

Captain cannot persuade him to stay safely at 

home, even after the birth of their son. Rather, 

Ahab must follow his compulsion to roam the 

seas, looking for the great white whale that has 

taken his leg and escaped his final, fatal spear. 

Hannah grapples with loneliness and deep 

spiritual conflicts that result from her desire to 

understand and love her husband, a complicated 

man of dark and tempestuous moods. When the 

day comes that the Captain does not return, 

heartbroken Hannah must find her way alone. 

Ahab’s Bride, Book One of Ahab’s Legacy, is 

fashioned as a prequel to Herman Melville’s 

classic work, Moby Dick. Not only does it serve 

to create interest in that legendary tale, but it 

possesses its own absorbing account of the lives 

and passions of its characters. Author Louise 

Gouge has crafted a novel that is near flawless 

in both story and execution. She adeptly designs 

a world full of rich characters whose story is set 

in a whale fishery town so real one can almost 

smell the brine. The faith thread is intriguing, 

presenting questions not often voiced, and 

providing reasoned answers. 

This is Christian fiction at it best. Readers may 

well say a prayer of thanks that the second book 

in the series, Hannah Rose, is already available 

for purchase. Highly recommended. 

Cathy M. Elliott, BS. Writer/ Library Information Technician, 

Shasta College, Anderson, California. 

Brink of death / Brandilyn Collins. 

(Hidden faces series ; 1.) LCCN 

2003024008. Grand Rapids : Zondervan, 

2004. 

PAP, 0310251036, list price: $12.99. 

Fic. Courtroom artists--Fiction; Trials (Murder)-- 

Fiction; Women artists--Fiction; Witnesses--Fiction; 

Mystery fiction. 341 p. ; 22 cm. 


Stain of guilt / Brandilyn Collins. (Hidden 

faces series ; 2.) LCCN 2004018411. 

Grand Rapids : Zondervan, 2004. 

PAP, 0310251044, list price: $12.99. 

Fic. Fugitives from justice--Fiction; Police artists-- 

Fiction; Women artists--Fiction; Murderers--Fiction; 

Mystery fiction. 353 p. ; 22 cm. 


When Annie’s father dies she and her single 

sister Jenna move into their father’s massive log 

home located on the outskirts of Redding, 

California. Jenna still has a life of her own in 

San Francisco but often flies up to be Annie’s 

support during the adjustment of her recent 

divorce and becoming a single mother of two 

teenagers. Annie is no stranger to courtroom 

drama, having watched her father’s work as a 

criminal lawyer; however, her main experience 

comes from being a courtroom artist, which 

leads her into places she never thought she 

would go. 

Annie’s involvement as a courtroom artist is the 

premise for the Hidden Faces Series by 

Brandilyn Collins. Annie’s job is to both draw 

the criminal’s face and to come to know the 

personality of those she is drawing, since 

personality traits can affect the countenance and 

aging process. It is the hidden face, the 

personality of the criminal, that makes the series 

different from other murder/mystery novels, 

since the readers are given glimpses into the 

criminal’s thoughts as the main plot unfolds. 

There is also the subplot of Annie struggling 

with becoming a Christian. Readers will be 

drawn into how Annie becomes involved with 

the murder case because of her ability to draw 

the outer, and inner person. 

In Book One, Brink of Death, the plot centers on 

how it was a murder of mistake. Annie 

discovers this painful truth when she is drawn 

into the murder of her neighbor and friend, Lisa 

Willits. Because of her courtroom artist 

experience and friendship with the Willits, 

Annie is asked to draw the composite of the 

killer based on what Lisa’s daughter saw that 


ADULT FICTION 

horrible night. Annie’s involvement in the case 

reveals that the killer had the wrong house. 

Annie is the one who should be dead and not 

Lisa. As Annie is burdened with this guilt, her 

drawing gets her closer to finding the murderer, 

yet he is getting closer in finding her as a result. 

In Stain of Guilt, the sequel, Annie has gone 

from a courtroom artist to a forensic artist as a 

result of the murder case she had been involved 

with. She has agreed to draw the updated 

composite of the man who murdered Don 

Terrell, a prominent businessman some twenty 

years prior. Her drawing will air on the national 

show, American Fugitive, in hopes of capturing 

him. Annie is reluctant to take on the task as she 

dreads knowing she will have to come to know 

the habits, and mind of a killer. The more 

involved she becomes in her assignment the 

more she realizes she cannot handle the 

pressures of both her career and being a single 

parent. 

As in the first book in the Hidden Faces Series, 

Annie’s involvement in her case nearly costs her 

life. Annie continues to struggle to truly trust 

God with her life. Her continuing difficulty 

with her rebellious teenage son, along with her 

continuing insecurities, make it obvious she 

cannot do it on her own. Though she goes to 

church, she has not made any real spiritual 

commitment. 

In both books Annie’s path towards salvation 

gets a little preachy at times, yet at the same time 

her hesitancy and the counsel she receives are 

genuine in tone. It’s clear the author has 

researched the field of forensics, which 

unfortunately weighs down the story with too 

much detail. As in the first book the plot does 

not take off until well into the latter half of the 

book, and then it is difficult to put down since 

the pace and action is riveting. Readers 

interested in a new twist in murder mysteries, 

with the warmth of a woman trying to find 

salvation, will want to try the Hidden Face 

Series. 


Dear enemy / by Jack Cavanaugh. LCCN 

2005008958. Minneapolis : Bethany 

House, 2005. 

PAP, 0764223100, list price: $12.99. 

Fic. Nurses--Fiction; Soldiers--Fiction; Prisoners of 

war--Fiction; Enemies (Persons)--Fiction; World War, 

1939-1945--Fiction; War stories; Christian fiction. 

283 p. ; 22 cm. 


In the midst of World War II’s bloody Battle of 

the Bulge, nurse, Annie Mitchell, finds herself 

called back to the front lines the first day of her 

honeymoon. When the conflict heats up and the 

base is evacuated, Annie volunteers to stay 

behind. Word comes that General Maxwell is 

wounded in the Ardenne Forest; Annie 

commandeers a vehicle to find him, and her 

husband Keith, General Maxwell’s driver. To 

her great joy, Keith is still alive, but her joy is 

short-lived. Germans disable their vehicle, and 

Annie and Keith must flee into the forest to hide. 

Worse yet, when two German soldiers stumble 

toward their hiding place, Keith only kills one 

before he is fatally shot, and Annie is captured. 

Annie does everything she can to escape from 

the wounded German soldier holding her 

captive. Her hate is a palpable thing for this 

killing machine who took the life of her 

husband. But things are not what they appear. 

As Annie is forced to spend time with Karl 

Hausmann, he repeatedly demonstrates that her 

preconceived ideas about the enemy are 

completely false, in his case, and he teaches her 

things about life and humanity that challenge 

her world view. 

Dear Enemy, by Jack Cavanaugh carries the 

reader away with its intense battle scenes and 

stark look at the atrocities of war on the front 

lines. The book also challenges readers to 

consider “the enemy” not as a stereotyped, 

nameless group or entity, but as distinct 

individuals with names and families, hopes and 

fears much like ourselves—a timely issue, 

considering the United State’s current 

involvement in Iraq. 

Sherri Beeler, M.A. Teacher, Cascade Christian High School, 

Medford, Oregon. 

Deep blue / Tom Morrisey. (Beck Easton 

adventure ; 1.) LCCN 2004019910. 

Grand Rapids : Zondervan, 2005. 

PAP, 0310244072, list price: $12.99. 

Fic. Women graduate students--Fiction; Women 

genealogists--Fiction; Treasure-trove--Fiction; Divers- 

-Fiction; Florida--Fiction; Christian fiction; Mystery 

fiction. 344 p. ; 22 cm. 

Adult (Grades 10-12). Rating : 4. 

“Our secret may yet save us,” (p.27) writes 

Cecilia Sinclair, a Civil War widow whom 

Jennifer Cassidy was hired to research. When 

Jennifer uncovers the previous sentence in one 

of Cecilia’s journals, she determines to research 

the secret also. Armed with the journals and a 

hunch, Jennifer, a graduate student on summer 

break, flies to Florida. Once there, she hires 

Beck Easton, owner of a dive shop and former 

Marine diver, to explore an underwater cave for 

Cecilia’s buried secret. Beck’s discovery ignites 

Jennifer’s curiosity and fuels the evil intentions 

of the one who hired her. While Jennifer 

pursues both Beck and great wealth, Beck 

gently tries to redirect her focus to God’s 

treasures. 

Deep Blue, a contemporary suspense fiction 

book by Tom Morrisey, sweeps across Florida, 

the Bahamas, and parts of Michigan. 

Descriptions of the various settings allow the 

reader to see what the character sees, but do not 

bog down the narrative. The plot catches Beck 

and Jennifer in a vortex of mysteries, romance, 

and danger. Beck’s Christian character is 

consistently admirable. Jennifer’s character 

develops throughout the book. At one point, 

Jennifer tries unsuccessfully to seduce Beck. 

Beck’s wise and sensitive refusal attests to his 

deep convictions and love for God. The 

dialogue helps develop the characters as well as 

provide information. The theme of redemption 

threads its way through the lives of Beck and 

Jennifer. “Grace, Jen,… we don’t deserve it; He 

gives it anyhow.” (p. 326) 

Kristina A. Wolcott, BS. Piano Teacher, Freelance Writer, Oroville, 

California. 

Dying to kill / Patricia H. Rushford. (An 

Angel Delaney mystery ; 2.) LCCN 

2004015534. Grand Rapids : Revell, 2004. 

PAP, 080075848X, list price: $12.99. 

Fic. Family violence--Fiction; Policewomen--Fiction; 

Mystery fiction; Christian fiction. 267 p. ; 22 cm. 


Abusive men deserve to die. At least, somebody 

in Sunset Cove, Oregon, thinks so. When 

Candace Jenkins’ abusive husband is murdered, 

police assume Candace is guilty. Angel 

Delaney’s gut feeling that Candace may be 

innocent compels her to investigate. When 

Angel, who is on trauma leave from the Sunset 

Cove Police Department, begins her 

investigation, some police on the force resent 

her lack of confidence in their investigation. In 

spite of their disapproval, Angel doggedly 

pursues the killer. The startling implications of 

her discoveries put her life and two of her 

friends’ lives in danger. 

In Dying to Kill, Patricia Rushford presents 

Angel Delaney, a courageous woman who is 

stalked by her insecurities. In the end, 

determining to act in spite of her emotions 

causes Angel to grow into a more mature 

character. The beautiful Oregon coastal setting 

contrasts starkly with the ugly crimes committed 

there. Rushford sensitively deals with the 

subject of spousal abuse, and a counselor 

present in the story teaches that fighting 

violence with violence yields tragic results. Yet, 

as the plot twists, Angel discovers even the 

counselor could be a possible suspect. This 

work of suspense fiction has a definite 

contemporary feel. The dialogue driven plot 

moves quickly, creates many possible suspects, 

and has a thread of romance. 


California. 

A garden in Paris / by Stephanie Grace 

Whitson. LCCN 764229354. Minneapolis 

: Bethany House, 2005. 

PAP, 0764229354, list price: $12.99. 

Fic. Americans--France--Fiction; Mothers and 

daughters--Fiction; Widows--Fiction; Paris (France)-- 



Is there life after fifty? Is God really a God of 

second chances? How do you define yourself 

when your only child is grown and very self- 


sufficient, and you are a widow? These are the 

questions that haunt Mary Davis in this 

contemporary novel. One day Mary finds an old 

sampler in an antique market and it fans a spark 

of hope deep inside her. A chance encounter 

with someone from her past via the Internet 

prompts Mary to go in search of the young 

woman she once was. Leaving a note for her 

family Mary heads for a garden in Paris. 

A Garden in Paris is a book of hope and 

forgiveness. Hope that in spite of mistakes and 

poor choices God has not given up on us. A 

Garden in Paris portrays the Godly attribute of 

forgiveness. The characters are believable and 

human. The power of forgiveness and the 

wonder of hope are played out through the lives 

of the characters and not just with the quoting of 

scripture. This is an enjoyable read. The book 

has a sequel so not all issues are resolved in the 

final chapter. 

Mary J. McCoy, Orange, Texas. 

The heart of Thornton Creek / Bonnie 

Leon. (The Queensland chronicles ; 1.) 


Revell, 2005. 

PAP, 080075896X, list price: $12.99. 

Fic. Pioneers--Fiction; Americans--Australia--Fiction; 

Queensland--Fiction; Historical fiction; Christian 



For the love of the land / Bonnie Leon. 

(The Queensland chronicles ; 2.) LCCN 

2004029368. Grand Rapids : Revell, 2005. 

PAP, 0800758978, list price: $12.99. 

Fic. Pioneers--Fiction; Americans--Australia--Fiction; 

Queensland--Fiction; Historical fiction; Christian 



Rebecca is frustrated by the constraints of 

society and her loving father. Suddenly, 

Rebecca’s father takes ill and dies, leaving 

Rebecca with only a spinster aunt and a 

mountain of debt. Society will not allow 

Rebecca to use her training in law, and she is not 

well suited to the role of nanny, seamstress, or 

teacher. The only alternative is to accept the 

marriage proposal of the young Australian her 

father represented. Can a marriage based on 

need and not love, succeed? Daniel is a fine 

Christian man and he stirs Rebecca as no other 

man has, but is that enough? Has her Christian 

upbringing equipped her to face the life in the 

Australian outback? Will she fit into the 

Thornton family? 

The Heart of Thornton Creek is good historical 

fiction. But the books value lies not in its 

Christian view of marriage but in its character 

study of Bertram Thornton. Bertram, Daniel’s 

father, is a person who knows about God but 

does not know God. He feels a great 

responsibility for the community of Thornton 

Creek, a responsibility much greater than God 

intended. Time and the burden have 

transformed him from a spiritual leader to a 

religious dictator. The strength of the story lies 

not only in how this change impacts the 

Thornton family, but the whole community of 

Thornton Creek. Can we trust God to care for 

those we love and all we hold dear or does He 

need our help? The story can be enjoyed on 

more than one level, the obvious story for some, 

and the deeper truths for others. 

Rebecca and Daniel have come to love each 

other as they never believed possible, but Daniel 

is obsessed with Douloo, the family ranch. 

Daniel works to prove to his now dead father 

that he is man enough to manage Douloo. What 

Daniel does not understand is that he has 

followed in Bertram’s footsteps not only as 

manager at Douloo, but also in trying to 

shoulder responsibility that is God’s alone. A 

series of misfortunes beset Douloo and the 

Thornton family. Will these misfortunes bring 

Rebecca and Daniel closer together or drive 

them further apart? Will the trials of life bring 

them closer to God? 

For The Love Of The Land is a sequel and does 

not have the substance to stand alone. It is 

dependent on the characters and story line from 

the first book of The Queensland Chronicles 

series. While the second book in the series, For 

The Love Of The Land, does move the story 

forward, the plot lacks depth and is predictable. 

The characters do not grow in this book. They 

remain much as they were in Book One of the 

series. 


The last storyteller / by Diane Noble. 

LCCN 2004010014. Colorado Springs : 

WaterBrook, 2004. 

PAP, 1578563992, list price: $12.99. 

Fic. Grandparent and adult child--Fiction; Women 

storytellers--Fiction; Welsh Americans--Fiction; 

Terminally ill--Fiction; Pregnant women--Fiction; 

Single women--Fiction; Grandmothers--Fiction; 

Storytelling--Fiction; Wales--Fiction; Adventure 

fiction; Love stories; Christian fiction. 372 p. ; 21 cm. 


Taite Abbot grew up on her grandmother’s 

stories while her mother attended college. Now 

that Taite is an adult, she finds herself in need of 

her grandmother again. When Taite learns that 

her boyfriend, Sam, has accepted a fellowship at 

the Institute of Neurological Research, she 

cancels her plan to tell him that she’s pregnant. 

Instead, Taite chooses to get an abortion. 

However, out of money and out of work, Taite 

needs someplace to go. She goes to her 

grandmother’s, and learns that her grandmother 

needs her just as much as Taite needs to hear the 

rest of the stories that her grandmother shares. 

Vivid, spirited characters fan the flame of this 

tale of God’s mercy and grace. Flung from 

modern-day California, Boston, London, and 

Spain to medieval Wales, the setting enhances 

and moves the story without overwhelming the 

ADULT FICTION 

plot. The dialogue vibrates with controversial 

subjects such as abortion, stem cell research, 

and embryonic harvesting. Noble treats these 

tough issues with great sensitivity and manages 

to present both sides of the debate fairly well. 

The plot moves quickly, and generally centers 

on relationships, and the complicated decisions 

resulting from allowing people into your life. 

The theme so clearly presented in the lives of 

Taite, her mother, and grandmother is that no 

matter what you’ve done, God waits, ready to 

forgive and cleanse you with His love. 


California. 

A light to my path / Lynn Austin. 

(Refiner's fire ; 3.) LCCN 2004012913. 

Minneapolis : Bethany House, 2004. 

PAP, 1556614446, list price: $12.99. 

Fic. African American women--Fiction; Plantation 

life--Fiction; Women slaves--Fiction; South Carolina-- 

History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Fiction; Historical 

fiction; Christian fiction. 432 p. ; 22 cm. 


The third book in the Refiner’s Fire Series picks 

up the stories of Grady and Anna, plantation 

slaves during the ending years of the Civil War. 

Austin takes us back in years to when they were 

snatched away from their parents as young 

children and sold into slavery. Grady works for 

an evil slave trader until he cleverly allows 

himself to be won in a poker game by a more 

caring master. Anna, with no one to care for her, 

lives on Slave Row like a wild barn cat eating 

any crumbs that get dropped. While playing 

with some barn kittens, the white girl in the big 

house demands that she hold one, and when 

Anna meows and crawls on all fours to find 

them, the white girl demands that she become 

“my kitty.” Thus Anna becomes Kitty and 

serves a selfish, demanding, spoiled white girl 

who treats her disrespectfully and inhumanely 

until the slaves are freed when the war is over. 

Despite the darkness, both Grady and Anna are 

gifted—Grady in playing the fiddle, and Anna 

with the ability to sketch realistic pictures. 

There is nothing else pretty about this novel. 

Except for the colorful dresses of the gentry, 

everything in the story is in shades of gray—the 

clothing, the mean living conditions, the meager 

food—and hopelessness. Still, through Delia, a 

black storyteller, many slaves place their trust in 

Jesus Christ. And hope will not be denied. 

When the chains of slavery are broken there is a 

choice—the way of revenge or the way of the 

Spirit. 

Austin captures the historical setting, the 

haughtiness of white plantation owners, and the 

sights and smells of war. Through her deep 

characterizations, realistic dialogue, and 

storyline substance, the reader is transported to 

Charleston and the surrounding countryside to 

join Grady and Anna in hoping that the North 

will set the slaves free and help them begin a 


ADULT FICTION 

new unshackled life where tender wills are no 

longer battered. 

Helen Hunter, BA. Freelance Writer/Editor, Cedar Rapids, Iowa. 

Like a watered garden / Patti Hill. 

(Garden gates ; 1.) LCCN 2004020015. 


PAP, 0764229370, list price: $12.99. 

Fic. Widows--Fiction; Women gardeners--Fiction; 

Loss (Psychology)--Fiction; Christian fiction; Love 

stories. 318 p. ; 22 cm. 


Always green : a novel / Patti Hill. 

(Garden gates ; 2.) LCCN 2005008955. 


PAP, 0764229389, list price: $12.99. 

Fic. Women gardeners--Fiction; Single mothers-- 

Fiction; Widows--Fiction; Christian fiction. 318 p. ; 

22 cm. 


Struggling to carry on with life after the 

unexpected death of her husband, Mibby Garrett 

pours her time into her struggling garden design 

business—anything to avoid the day-to-day 

encounters that bring up painful reminders of 

her sweet life with Scott. Mibby finds herself 

able to cope, until Andrea shows up looking for 

her father; she is Scott’s daughter from his first 

marriage—something Mibby knew nothing 

about. Torn between rage and grief, Mibby, 

supported by her wise, praying friend Louise, 

gradually comes to terms with Andrea, inviting 

her into her home where they can both heal from 

their shared pain of loss. 

The story Like a Watered Garden, by Patti Hill, 

is carried on in Always Green, book two in the 

Garden Gates series. Mibby’s garden design 

business is still struggling to make enough to 

pay her bills; worse yet, her teenage son, Ky, has 

turned into a stranger, becoming disrespectful, 

lazy, and absorbed in his video games. 

Encouraged by her friends, Mibby begins dating 

again, but gives up hope of finding a man as 

good as Scott was. What she almost misses is 

right under her nose—the valuable friendship of 

the Sweet Suzy delivery man, Larry, and the 

possibility of a new love. 

Patti Hill’s Garden Gates books are wonderfully 

written, with relatable characters and enough 

gentle humor to balance Mibby’s grief and the 

mundane everyday struggles. Like the gardens 

she tends, Mibby’s life goes through seasons of 

struggle and drought, but she is hardy and 

tenacious, buoyed up by her friends’ 

encouragement, and her growing faith. 



Lost in Rooville : a novel / Ray Blackston. 


Revell, 2005. 

PAP, 0800730577, list price: $12.99. 

Fic. Wilderness survival--Fiction; Australia--Fiction; 

Christian fiction; Love stories. 300 p. ; 22 cm. 


Girl + Exotic Vacation + Ring = Engagement. 

That’s what Jay Jarvis is thinking when he and 

his girlfriend Allie decide to visit Australia, 

explore the sights, and chase kangaroos. Being 

stranded for three days in the middle of the 

Australian outback, in the deadly heat, with a 

rapidly diminishing water supply and no real 

hope of rescue was not exactly the romantic 

proposal scene he had envisioned. Nor was 

going to jail and accumulating a massive debt 

part of his plan—but it was not outside of God’s 

plan. 

With his trademark blend of quirky humor and 

spiritual insights, Ray Blackston concludes his 

Flabbergasted trilogy with Lost in Rooville. 

Readers will love the laugh-aloud hilarity of this 

book as they revisit the lives of Jay and Allie, 

Steve and Darcy, Neil and Alexis—familiar 

characters who have grown and matured in their 

spiritual lives, and in their relationships with 

each other. This fun book is filled with 

intelligent humor, and real-life people and 

situations that most people can relate to. And 

the best part of the book is that it works it way 

to a great climax, and you think the story’s 

over—but then you realize, to your great joy, 

there’s still half a book left to read, with yet 

another climax and resolution to look forward 

to. And in midst of all the “Murphy’s Law” 

scenarios are woven timeless truths about God’s 

faithfulness. 



Memories of a dirt road town / Stephen 

Bly. Nashville : Broadman & Holman, 

2005. 

PAP, 0805431713, list price: $12.99. 

Fic. Forgiveness--Fiction; Wyoming--Fiction. 275 p. 

; 23 cm. 


Memories of a Dirt Road Town starts slowly, but 

by the last pages the reader is swept into the 

adventure, romantic intrigues, and the spiritual 

journey found in the book. The main character, 

Develyn Worrell is a forty-five year old fifth 

grade teacher in Indiana. She embarks on a 

summer western trip to Wyoming to find a small 

town where her family unintentionally 

vacationed thirty-five years ago. Develyn has 

fond memories from so many years before of 

riding a roan colored horse, and the promise 

made as a ten year old Develyn to return to that 

Wyoming dirt road town someday. 

Develyn makes good on that promise to return 

seeking peace with her past and with her present 

conflicts with her grown daughter. The divorce 

of Develyn from her husband two years before 

is explained as marital infidelity on his part. 

They were attempting to reconcile when he 

suddenly dies of a heart attack resulting in the 

conflict between mother and daughter. It is 

handled from a compassionate Christian 

perspective. Develyn’s conversations and 

prayers to God are heartfelt and real, as is the 

story’s dialogue with the wide open space 

Wyoming cowboys and cowgirls that inhabit the 

Wyoming landscape. 

The ending is just what you would expect from 

the first book in a series, in this case the new 

Horse Dream Series by Christy Award winning 

author Stephen Bly. The ending leaves you 

hanging on the edge of your seat ready for a 

continuation of the story, and the next book in 

the series. 

David Hajdik, Columbia, Tennessee. 

One Tuesday morning / Karen Kingsbury. 


Zondervan, 2003. 

PAP, 0310247527, list price: $12.99. 

Fic. September 11 Terrorist Attacks, 2001--Fiction; 

Terrorism victims' families--Fiction; Victims of 

terrorism--Fiction; Lookalikes--Fiction; Amnesia-- 

Fiction; Los Angeles (Calif.)--Fiction; New York 

(N.Y.)--Fiction; Psychological fiction; Christian 

fiction. 337 p. ; 22 cm.. 

Beyond Tuesday morning / Karen 

Kingsbury. LCCN 2004017038. Grand 

Rapids : Zondervan, 2005. 

PAP, 0310257719, list price: $13.99. 

Fic. September 11 Terrorist Attacks, 2001--Fiction; 

Terrorism victims' families--Fiction; Fire fighters-- 

Fiction; Brothers--Fiction; Widows--Fiction; Police-- 

Fiction; New York (N.Y.)--Fiction; Christian fiction. 

316 p. ; 22 cm. 


Tuesday morning, September 11, 2001 began 

like many other Tuesdays, but before this day is 

over countless lives will be changed forever. 

Jake Bryan is a firefighter in Manhattan, and 

Eric Michaels is a businessman from Los 

Angeles. The only thing they have in common 

is their appearance. Both will enter the World 

Trade Center, but only one will survive. One 

man’s love and hunger for God will change 

many lives. His influence will lead two families 

to a greater understanding of God’s love, 

forgiveness and provision. In this contemporary 

fiction, two families’ worlds are about to collide, 

one Tuesday morning. 

The events of 9/11 are a familiar backdrop to the 

testimony of the power of one man’s love for his 

God and his family. One Tuesday Morning is 

not for the faint of heart. The personalization of 

9/11 is painful. Karen Kingsbury’s characters 

are people we can relate to and care about. One 

Tuesday Morning allows us to see how one man, 

one ordinary person can make a difference and 

can impact their world. 

Her name jumped out from the pages of Jake’s 

Bible. Jake had written her name next to 

Deuteronomy 30:15-16 and the words-Choose 

life. That was Jake’s desire for Jamie, but how 

do you choose life when your world and life 

have been destroyed by an act of terrorism. 


True, Jamie had found Jesus in the pages and 

comments written in Jake’s Bible, and in the 

thoughts and prayers Jake had jotted down in his 

journal, but to choose life seemed impossible. 

Slowly she and their precious daughter, Sierra 

learned to live again. Jamie volunteers at the St. 

Paul’s Chapel and seeks to help others come to 

terms with the tragedy of September 11. Jamie 

can choose life for Sierra’s sake, but can she 

ever choose love? 

Beyond Tuesday Morning brings Jamie Bryan 

full circle to a life that is so much more than she 

ever thought or dreamed possible. The story 

portrays the loving plans of the Father for each 

of his children. God’s desire for each of us is to 

choose life and to always look to Him for 

guidance. Well defined characters such as Jamie 

and Clay seek God for answers and direction. 

They learn to choose life and to trust God’s 

direction and timing. These are the ways we all 

grow through the tragedies of life. Young and 

old alike will profit from this contemporary 

example of God’s plans for each of His children. 

“For I know the plans I have for you, and you, 

and you… “(Paraphrase of Jeremiah 29:11) 


Over the waters / Deborah Rainey. 

Steeple Hill, 2005. 

PAP, 373785437, list price: $12.95. 

Fic. Haiti--Fiction; Christian fiction; Romance fiction. 

329 p. ; 21 cm. 


Instead of heading to the Bahamas for her 

honeymoon, Valerie Austin finds herself on a 

plane to an orphanage in Haiti, after 

permanently parting ways with her fiancé 

shortly before her wedding. Frustrated, 

searching for God’s will in her life, she wonders 

why God refuses to allow her the one dream she 

holds so dear—that of being a wife and a mother 

to half a dozen children—when all around her 

other women are mothers of children they don’t 

even want, or can’t afford to care for. 

Dr. Max Jordon is likewise angry and 

disillusioned as he makes his way to Haiti to 

grieve where his son Joshua had worked as a 

doctor, and eventually died of illness. A wealthy 

and successful plastic surgeon, Max doesn’t 

understand what drew Joshua to this povertystricken 

place,nor does he understand how 

Joshua’s life was transformed after he “got 

religion.” As Valerie and Max’s paths intersect, 

Valerie challenges Max, showing him his 

desperate need for a personal relationship with 

Christ. And in the process, Valerie experiences 

her own spiritual growth as she learns how the 

Lord will fulfill the desires of her heart in a most 

unexpected way. 

Over the Waters, by Deborah Raney, paints a 

vivid portrait of the deep material and spiritual 

poverty of Haiti. Raney’s colorful descriptions 

of the people and the country, sprinkled liberally 

with the Creole language, bring to life the reality 

of living in a world far removed from the plush 

opulence of America. Although the story seems 

somewhat superficial and formulaic for the first 

half of the novel, the storyline takes a more 

substantive turn the second half, focusing not on 

romance, but instead challenging the reader to 

consider how easy it is to fall into the trap of 

materialism, and encouraging the reader to 

wholeheartedly follow the call of God, even 

though it may seem like foolishness in the eyes 

of the world. 



The storekeeper's daughter / Wanda E. 

Brunstetter. Ulrichville, Ohio : Barbour 


PAP, 1593104464, list price: $12.95. 

Fic. Amish--Fiction. 318 p. ; 21 cm. 


The Storekeeper’s Daughter, by Wanda E. 

Brunstetter, is book one in her Daughters of 

Lancaster County series. Naomi was content 

with her life in the Amish community of 

Pennsylvania, but her role in the family has 

changed since the sudden death of her mother. 

She now tends to her siblings while working 

everyday with her father in the family store. The 

long hours at the shop, the responsibilities of 

home, the inability to be courted by a gentleman 

in the community, and her father’s 

unappreciative behavior has put a strain on 

Naomi’s spirit. Then one day, Naomi makes a 

mistake that will cause her to question herself 

and her family’s need for her. 

Though labeled as a Christian romance, this 

story is more about forgiveness and family 

relationships. Brunstetter has constructed a 

story that shows how love and forgiveness heals 

wounds and brings family and friends together 

amid tragedy. The characters are well defined 

and the audience is able to witness the emotions 

of the main characters. The author has kept the 

spirit of the Amish while being able to develop 

characters who exhibit different attitudes within 

the community. Wanda Brunstetter has written 

a well rounded novel that has set a good 

foundation for the upcoming books in this 

series. 

Stacie Coomer, MLS. Reference Librarian, Xenia, Ohio 

A table by the window / by Lawana 

Blackwell. LCCN 2004024191. 


PAP, 0764224727, list price: $12.99. 

Fic. Inheritance and succession--Fiction; Home 

ownership--Fiction; Mississippi--Fiction. 413 p. ; 22 

cm. 


Carley Reed unexpectedly learns she has 

inherited money and a house from a 

grandmother she never knew. She decides to 

ADULT FICTION 

quit her less than satisfying job teaching 

literature at a San Francisco private academy, 

and flies to Mississippi. It is there in the small 

town of Tallulah that Carley learns she not only 

has a house, but relatives. Having had a rough 

childhood due to a negligent mother, Carley is 

more thrilled with having family than having 

sudden wealth. She decides to trade California 

living for the much slower pace of the South, 

and tries her hand at opening up her own café. 

Never very good at relationships, Carley opens 

her heart to receiving the love her new family 

offers. In return Carley is able to reach out to 

Brooke, a troubled teen girl. Carley also 

discovers there may be room for romance in her 

life, but the taint of the town’s unsolved murder 

begins to hinder the true joy Carley has begun to 

experience in her new life. 

Lawana Blackwell’s new offering, ATable by 

the Window, has much going for it—a likeable 

heroine, a mysterious murder lurking in the 

plotline, a young girl who needs mentoring, and 

a charming setting. There is also the sensitive 

treatment of a believer reluctantly returning to 

church. Yet all this gets weighed down by 

Blackwell’s penchant for slowing down the 

story with an overabundance of exposition. 

There is also the overuse of italicizing words to 

contend with. However, these small annoyances 

aside, the story offers up a nice read of light 

romance mixed with mystery. 


Treason / Don Brown. (Navy justice series 

; 1.) LCCN 2005002988. Grand Rapids : 

Zondervan, 2005. 

PAP, 0310259339, list price: $12.99. 

Fic. United States. Navy--Fiction; Courts-martial and 

courts of inquiry--Fiction; Legal stories. 325 p. ; 22 

cm. 


This exciting legal thriller centers on the Navy’s 

top prosecutor, Lieutenant Zack Brewer. He is 

first assigned to prosecute a Navy SEAL for the 

rape of a female officer, a case which pits him 

against a long-time rival. While the best 

prosecutor and best defense counselor in the 

Navy go head-to head in court, Islamic terrorists 

have infiltrated the Navy Chaplain Corps, and 

recruited Muslims in the military to wage acts of 

terrorism against the United States armed forces. 

With the arrest of three chaplains for murder and 

treason, Lieutenant Brewer must team up with 

his former rival to prosecute these chaplains 

against a notorious criminal defense lawyer who 

will try anything to win the case for his clients. 

This fast-paced novel weaves together an 

insightful look into the military justice system 

with authentic characters and an intricate story 

line. The story line spans such a great deal of 

time, however, that this reader would like to 

have seen Don Brown focus on developing 

more fully just one portion of this plot. This 


ADULT FICTION 

story could easily have been made into two 

books, both of which, if told with the same 

engaging details as this one, would be great 

books in and of themselves. 

Filled with emotion, timely subject matter, and 

suspense, this book is a must-read. Don Brown 

reminds us how easy it is for evil to creep into 

our lives, whether through terrorism, anger, or 

greed. This relevant book shows how 

individuals with a relationship to Christ can and 

will help defeat the forces of evil in this world. 

Rev. Chris Carroll, Castalia, North Carolina 

The trumpet at Twisp / Doris Elaine Fell. 

(Fields of valor ; 2.) LCCN 2004052360. 

West Monroe, La. : Howard, 2004. 

PAP, 1582293910, list price: $12.99. 

Fic. Persian Gulf War, 1991--Casualties--Fiction; 

September 11 Terrorist Attacks, 2001--Fiction; Persian 

Gulf War, 1991--Veterans--Fiction; Friendly fire 

(Military science)--Fiction; Mothers and sons--Fiction; 

War widows--Fiction; Washington (State)--Fiction; 

Christian fiction; Love stories. 357 p. ; 21 cm. 


From Washington State to Heidelberg, 

Germany, to Bagdad, Iraq, this story unfolds 

with ever increasing suspense and heartache 

during the first Gulf War and eventually the 

current war in Iraq. Fell captures the terrible 

tension between love for your husband and his 

interests, and the fear and hatred of a war that 

could snatch him from his family. Her 

characters reveal insights into a contemporary 

war that makes the battle personal for every 

reader. 

This second novel in the Fields of Valor Series 

takes up the story of Cameron Juddman, gungho 

Army enlisted man and gifted trumpeter, and 

Meagan, the woman he impulsively married 

when just a young girl and their young son, 

Ryan. Covering from 2003 to current time, Fell 

makes good use of flashback to fill in all the 

blanks in the past. Rejecting the God of her 

husband until many years after his death, 

Meagan works as both the protagonist and the 

antagonist. Interwoven with the Juddman’s 

lives are those of Robinson Gilbert, seasoned 

reporter and his young son, Robbie. The mature 

Robbie, imbedded with a U.S. Army unit, 

arrives in Iraq in time to save Ryan Juddman’s 

life. Add in Captain Tharon Marsh, a career 

officer who obeys an order that changes his life 

forever, and a German family with Nazi ties, and 

you have all the ingredients for a fine novel. 

The only negative about the story is why the 

German family is included—interesting but I 

was left with unanswered questions and 

wondering how their presence moved the story 

forward. Perhaps there will be closure with 

these characters in her next book in the series. 

Will Meagan lose another loved one to war or 

will she trust God with her fears? Good 

dialogue and intertwining the fictitious with the 

real creates a heart-wrenching tale dealing with 

serious lifelike situations that make the battle 

personal for each of us. 

Helen Hunter, BA. Freelance Writer/Editor, Cedar Rapids, Iowa. 

Vanished : a novel / by Ward Tanneberg. 


Kregel Publications, 2004. 

PAP, 0825438500, list price: $14.99. 

Fic. Hostages--Fiction; Missing persons--Fiction; 

Americans--Israel--Fiction; Victims of terrorism-- 

Fiction; Fathers and daughters--Fiction; Young 

women--Crimes against--Fiction; Israel--Fiction; 

Suspense fiction; Christian fiction. 525 p. ; 24 cm. 


Ward Tanneberg brings the continuing 

suspenseful story of John Cain, first introduced 

in Without Warning, to its sequel Vanished. 

Cain’s twelve year old daughter, Jessica, has 

been taken hostage from the terrorists who 

issued their own jihad in the first novel. The 

Palestinian Islamic Jihad is making this act of 

terrorism personal for John Cain. Not willing to 

wait while the United States government makes 

promises to the Cain family about the safe return 

of the daughter, John takes matters into his own 

hands to bring Jessica back home. 

Vanished is an updated version of Tanneberg’s 

1995 novel, October’s Child, just as the first 

book of the series, Without Warning, is the 

updated version of his 1994 novel, September 

Strike. Though this book can stand alone 

without reading the first book, readers would 

benefit from reading Without Warning to learn 

the background of the characters, and the events 

leading up to Jessica’s kidnapping. Tanneberg 

has taken extreme care to present accurate 

details concerning the Islam religion, and the 

Middle East geography and conflicts. The pace 

is fast with short chapters, but is hindered by the 

vast amount of information Tanneberg presents 

in the novel. Readers witness the moral and 

emotional struggle John Cain endures to bring 

his daughter home safely. One can’t help but 

admire the spiritual, emotional, and physical 

strength of Jessica Cain as she endures being 

held hostage. The present day kidnappings in 

the Middle East bring more interest to this story. 

John Cain, a pastor, uses a gun in this story to 

defend his life and others. The use of guns was 

a subject matter John struggled with and one 

where he sought spiritual guidance from a close 

Christian friend. Readers may also have a 

difficult time reading the passage about the 

attempted rape of twelve year-old Jessica. 

Stacie Coomer, MLS. Reference Librarian, Xenia, Ohio 


BOOK REVIEWS ADULT NONFICTION 

Falling in love with the Bible / Mike 

MacIntosh. LCCN 2004029411. Colorado 

Springs : Victor, 2005. 

HBB, 0781441366, list price: $16.99. 

220. Bible--Reading. 219 p. : 24 cm. 

Grades 9 and up. Rating : 3. 

Falling in Love with the Bible was written to 

help readers do just that. Specifically, the book 

is designed to encourage readers to develop a 

desire to read the Bible out of a desire to do so 

rather than a feeling of pressure or obligation. . 

As part of his method of accomplishing this, 

author Mike Macintosh, pastor of Horizon 

Christian Fellowship in San Diego, sets forth 

two main concepts: that the only way to a 

fulfilling life is to become intimately acquainted 

with God, and the only way to become 

intimately acquainted with God is to read the 

Bible. 

In the book, Macintosh tackles the main reasons 

people have for not reading the Bible (it’s 

boring; it’s an old people’s book, etc.), and he 

details ways to fall in love with the Bible 

(including the suggestion to surround yourself 

with Bible-loving friends and the assurance that 

if the Bible is read in the belief that it is 

compelling, it will become so). For example, 

readers are told the Bible is full of imaginative 

stories of skullduggery and daring-do and 

they’re given statistics about how Bible lovers 

are more at peace. 

Ultimately, however, Macintosh too often 

simply lists why he loves the Bible without 

really explaining why. A Christian already in 

love with the Bible will find his points 

compelling. New Christians actively 

anticipating the Bible’s beauty would also be a 

good audience. But non-Christians, or readers 

hostile to Christianity might be puzzled by 

Macintosh’s using spaceships, Dear Abby, Mark 

Twain, sheep ranches, and the Wright Brothers 

to prove those points. 

While his writing style is reader friendly, 

Macintosh uses a large vocabulary and an 

almost textbook-like analysis of why the Bible 

is lovable, making his book best for adults and 

older teens. 


The new Unger's Bible handbook / rev. & 

updated ed.LCCN 2005280603. Chicago : 

Moody Publishers, 2005. 

HBB, 0802490565, list price: $39.99. 

220.7. Bible--Handbooks, manuals, etc. 751 p. : ill. 

(some col.) ; 26 cm. 


How can a reviewer critique a book already held 

in high regard by thousands of Christians? The 

answer: with respect! The New Unger’s Bible 

Handbook offers chronological notes from 

Genesis to Revelation. Special topics include 

“The Bible and Archaeology,” “Outline of 

Church History,” and “Principal Religions of the 

World.” Smaller special features are 

represented by nearly 60 sidebars, such as 

Assyria, Sanctification, and Events Exclusive to 

Luke. 

The late Dr. Merrill F. Unger wrote the first 

edition. Gary N. Larson revised the new edition 

considering recent archaeological discoveries, 

and a broader range of interpretive positions on 

difficult texts. The New International Version is 

the selected Scripture. 

Abundant illustrations may form tiny sidebars or 

two page spreads. Representative examples are 

“Jerusalem in the Time of Jesus,” and “Dung 

Gate of the old city of Jerusalem today.” 

Helpful charts include “The Book of Judges 

versus the Book of Joshua” and “Expulsion of 

demons.” Artwork, such as “Moses before 

Pharaoh” add interesting details. Maps 

comparable to “Paul’s First Missionary 

Journey” will aid the beginning Bible student. 

More advanced students of geography will note 

“Pietism in Europe, c. 1700,” and “Areas of 

Jewish Settlement in New Testament Times.” 

Everything is quality—sturdy binding, color, 

quality paper, and the layout. The New Unger’s 

Bible Handbook is an excellent choice for 

families, church libraries, public libraries, and 

Sunday School classrooms. Let its attractive 

front grace your coffee table. Keep this hefty 

volume near, for ready reference. It will soon be 

an old friend who has taught you much! 



The uttermost part of the earth : a guide 

to places in the Bible / Richard R. Losch. 

LCCN 2004065417. Grand Rapids : W.B. 

Eerdmans, 2005. 

PAP, 0802828051, list price: $16.00. 

220.9/1. Bible--Geography. xi, 260 p. : ill., 6 maps ; 

23 cm. 


In Acts 1:8, Jesus Christ commanded His 

disciples to go to the “uttermost part of the 

earth.” Richard R. Losch names his book from 

this command. The Uttermost Part of the Earth: 

A Guide to the Places of the Bible does not 

replace a Bible dictionary or a Bible atlas. 

Rather, this wonderful book offers a broad 

picture of over 75 important places in early 

Christianity. Geographical locations are 

arranged in alphabetical order. The letter E 

includes Emmaus and Ephesus. Hazor and 

Hebron represent the H section. T has Tarsus, 

Thessalonica, Thyatira, Tiberias, Tirzah, and 

Tyre. 

Father Losch, a retired rector of an Episcopcal 

church, includes some ancient tradition and 

scholarly opinions. He is careful, however, to 

distinguish between opinions of people and 

biblical sources. Plenty of white space in the 

text allows an interested reader to scribble 

questions and thoughts about a selected topic. 

Scattered black and white pictures, six maps, 

and an index add study tools. I especially 

appreciated the Guide to Pronunciation. For 

instance, Ur of the Chaldeans is “oor-of the kaldee-uns.” 

The author notes, “Some readers may read this 

volume cover-to-cover, while others may simply 

dip in to find out more about a particular town or 

city.” I’m keeping my copy nearby—a ready 

help, as I study my Bible. The Uttermost Part of 

the Earth can guide all Christians into a deeper 

understanding of biblical geography. 



The Christ : his miracles, his ministry, his 

mission / Carroll Roberson. LCCN 

2004118187. Green Forest, Ark. : New 

Leaf Press, 2005. 

PAP, 0892216107, list price: $14.99. 

232. Jesus Christ. 283 p. : ill. ; 23 cm. ; incl. CD- 

ROM. 


Listed as Christian apologetics, this multi-use 

book, The Christ, catches the reader’s attention 

with its cover, and holds it with its content. 

Chronologically based, grounded firmly in the 

Bible, and backed by fascinating first century 

Jewish cultural data, The Christ presents 106 

events from our Lord’s sojourn here on earth. 

Included is a CD of easy-listening, easy-to-learn 

hymns written by the author to enhance his 

narrative. The words of these songs are 

included within the relevant text. 

Preacher, award winning Christian singer and 

song writer, head of his own ministry, author, 

student of the Holy Land past and present and of 

Hebrew, Carroll Roberson draws from a large 

pallette of information to present this unique, 

inspiring, interesting life of Christ. Intimate as a 

face to face conversation, The Christ provides 


ADULT NONFICTION 

familiar and fresh perceptions which encourage 

worship and Christian growth. Each straight to 

the point section affords a range of biblically 

based retellings of incidents enhanced by 

Hebrew insights, historical data, and life 

applications. With its beautiful, die-cut, wrap 

around cover, antiqued black and white 

illustrations, and important contents The Christ 

has many uses, a few being: personal and group 

devotions; Bible study series for youths and 

adults; opening material for services and chorus 

singing; background for other Bible studies. 

This book will make a most welcome gift. 


If grace is so amazing, why don't we like 

it? / Donald McCullough. LCCN 

2004025498. San Francisco : Jossey-Bass, 

2005. 

HBB, 0787974374, list price: $22.95. 

234. Grace (Theology). ix, 245 p. ; 24 cm. 


Grace is unpredictable and often unsettling. 

This book looks at the many facets of grace— 

from the individual to the community level. The 

author writes that persistent, wishful thinking 

about wanting things to be some other way—is 

surely going to cause unhappiness, because 

grace is unpredictable and often occurs in 

surprising ways. It’s far better to accept grace 

and then work in the service of grace. 

This book is organized in four parts, Upside 

Down, Upside-Down God, and Upside-Down 

Self, Upside-Down World. This organization 

provides the framework to talk about grace in 

various contexts and situations, with the 

underlying theme being that “grace is not fair,” 

which is supported with uplifting examples of 

God’s grace in action. 

While the author’s discussion about grace is 

noteworthy, the book appears to take on a 

moralistic tone that berates one’s shortcomings 

and failings—in pursuit of and in spite of God’s 

grace. The author relies on quotes from various 

theologians and others to support his exposition 

about grace, but these do not contribute 

significantly to the book. The flow of the book 

was somewhat disconcerting as it appears to be 

a rambling about grace with few connections to 

tie the various musings together. Overall, this 

book may disappoint those seeking to 

understand God’s grace. 

Shirley Copeland, Ed.D., Education Consultant, Freelance Book 

Reviewer, Charlottesville, Virginia. 

Come thirsty / Max Lucado. LCCN 

2004007737. Nashville : W Publishing, 

2004. 

HBB, 0849917611, list price: $22.99. 

248.4. Christian life. xvi, 215 p. ; 24 cm. 


Pastor and author, Max Lucado, continues his 

earned reputation of offering something for the 

person on the street in Come Thirsty. Lucado 

gets his points across as if he was sitting across 

from you chatting. His ability to relate a story to 

spiritual truths touches the reader, and in this 

work truly “offers a long drink of cool water to 

parched throats and ‘dehydrated hearts’.” 

Readers are invited to accept God’s work, to rely 

on his energy, trust his Lordship, and receive his 

love. 

Those new to Lucado can expect to be treated to 

inspirational stories that draw one into the 

reflection, and now and then to be hit with a 

challenging personal point. Those familiar with 

Lucado will find more parallels between the 

stories presented and the life circumstances of 

biblical characters as well as guides for opening 

us to new discoveries about God and his plans. 

Almost fifty pages are devoted to a reader’s 

guide, prepared by Steve Halliday, which Bible 

study groups could use as a discussion guide. 



Jesus in the margins / Rick McKinley. 

LCCN 2004022661. Sisters, Ore. : 

Multnomah, 2005. 

PAP, 1590523873, list price: $12.99. 

248.4. Marginality, Social--Religious aspects-- 

Christianity; Christian life. 191 p. ; 21 cm. 


* 

Parenting the heart of your child / Diane 

Moore. LCCN 2005004888. Minneapolis 

: Bethany House, 2005. 

PAP, 0764200364, list price: $13.99. 

248.8/45. Decision making in children; Moral 

development; Parenting--Religious aspects-- 

Christianity; Child rearing--Religious aspects-- 

Christianity. 172 p. : ill. ; 22 cm. 

Adult. Rating : *5. 

Lawrence Kohlberg’s six stages of moral 

development include three levels: (1.) It’s All 

About Me, (2.) It’s All About Us! (3.) It’s 

Bigger Than Us! In Parenting the Heart of Your 

Child, Diane Moore uses Kohlberg’s 

developmental stages with Scripture, which “tie 

in beautifully.” Yet, parenting is not easy. She 

acknowledges faith-stretching experiences in 

teens may be painful for parents. 

Moore admits the mind is simpler to educate, 

but she stresses training at the heart level. 

Consider her suggestions. Adults must be 

comfortable with hard questions, knowing that 

“moral development doesn’t happen all at 

once.” Good boundaries are essential, “tethered 

to a value or an expectation.” Beware of people 

who “mine others,” always extracting for 

themselves from the relationship. Christians 

must model Jesus, who worked toward the good 

of all people, “whether they appreciated Him or 

not.” 

Parenting the Heart of Your Child includes a 

study guide with discussion questions. This 

slim volume holds more parenting help than 

many large, widely-publicized books. You may 

read Diane Moore’s words quickly, but continue 

to mull over the ideas. Discuss the concepts 

with other adults. Share this book with them. 

Parents can train children to make good 

decisions, even when no one is looking. 



Healing America : the life of Senate 

majority leader William H. Frist, M.D. 

and the issues that shape our times / 

Charles Martin. LCCN 2004012625. 

Nashville : W Publishing, 2004. 

HBB, 0849918367, list price: $21.99. 

328.73/092 or B. Frist, William H.; United States. 

Congress. Senate--Majority leaders--Biography; 

Legislators--United States--Biography; Surgeons-- 

United States--Biography; Physicians--Tennessee-- 

Biography. xiv, 254 p. : ill. ; 25 cm. 


Martin, in researching the life of William Frist, 

has come to respect and admire him. “I was 

amazed at the number of people—and the 

varieties in their backgrounds and political 

persuasions—who stood behind or alongside 

him, called him friend and who were willing to 

follow him most anywhere.” (p. 238) Readers 

have the opportunity to gain insights into the life 

of this fourth generation Tennessean, William H. 

Frist. He pledged to leave the Senate after two 

terms (which would be in 2006) and is ideally 

placed to pursue a 2008 presidential run. 

Stories note Frist’s legislative specialist 

concerns with health care, his being part of the 

Christian Right, and opposing federal funding of 

abortion. He has taken positions on AIDS and 

developed an interest in bioterrorism. 

This biography is easy to read, includes enough 

historical detail to document the twists and turns 

in a political life, and yet keeps an interesting, 

informative beat to probe issues of concern to 

many Americans. A worthy title to be added to 

biography collection. 



Simply in season : a world community 

cookbook / Mary Beth Lind and Cathleen 

Hockman-Wert ; [foreword by Graham 

Kerr]. LCCN 2005010107. Scottsdale, 

Pa. : Herald Press, 2005. 

SPB, 0836192974, list price: $19.99. 

641.5. Cookery, American. 352 p. : col. ill. ; 23 cm. 


In the tradition and style of the More with Less 

cookbook, Mary Beth Lind and Cathleen 


Hockman-Wert have compiled more than 300 

contributed recipes featuring fresh produce in 

Simply in Season. Divided into the four seasons 

plus All Seasons, the mostly simple recipes 

highlight fresh fruit and vegetables that can be 

grown or bought from local farmers and farmers 

markets. Entrees do include some meats, and 

Mennonite style dishes are scattered throughout. 

The premise is of preparing and consuming 

nutritious food with minimal environmental 

impact. Short notes and paragraphs through the 

book ask probing questions, highlight health and 

economic insights, and challenge readers to 

consider how their food habits affect others. 

Simply in Season presents a host of tasty and 

uncomplicated recipes in a context of being 

responsible toward creation, society, and one’s 

health. The notes, serving suggestions, and 

variations add interest to the pages. A wealth of 

resources increases the book’ usefulness: a fruit 

and vegetable guide, list of resources on food 

production, food, faith and the environment, and 

curricula about responsible eating. Included are 

a glossary of cooking and preparation terms, 

alternative protein listing, whole grains and 

flours, substitutions and equivalents. Recipes 

are indexed by title and by key ingredient. 

Simply in Season presents worthwhile 

information and interesting, creative recipes that 

point toward a holistic view of body and earth 

care. 

Karen Schmidt, BA. Freelance Writer/Editor, Camano Island, 

Washington. 

The world's most powerful leadership 

principle : how to become a servant leader 

/ James C. Hunter. LCCN 2003028103. 

New York : WaterBrook, 2004. 


658.4/092. Leadership; Leadership--Moral and ethical 

aspects. 224 p. ; 22 cm. 


The World’s Most Powerful Leadership 

Principle describes the principles of servant 

leadership and presents a 3-step process to effect 

change. The author takes the slant that 

“leadership development and character 

development are one” and carries this theme 

throughout the book. 

This book is an elementary introduction to 

servant leadership; it does not cover any new 

ground. It is best suited for those who are 

unfamiliar with servant leadership and need a 

general framework for understanding its 

principles. Overall the book lacks depth and 

breadth in the treatment of servant leadership 

and portrays a superficial view. The author does 

support some of his claims about leadership 

development with his own experiences and 

gives a few brief references to generally 

accepted management principles, but even this 

does not give credence to the book. 

The author fails to achieve one of his goals of 

the book which was to provide some ways for 

practical application of the servant leadership 

principles. After having read the book, one is 

still left with the unanswered question as to how 

to implement servant leadership in a meaningful 

way. 

Shirley Copeland, Ed.D., Education Consultant, Freelance Book 

Reviewer, Charlottesville, Virginia. 

Serving the good and the great : the 

amazing true story of Violet Liddle / Violet 

Liddle as told to Mary Batchelor. LCCN 

2004016140. Grand Rapids : Zondervan, 

2004. 

PAP, 0310253950, list price: $12.99. 

941.084/092 or B. Liddle, Violet, 1922-; Women 

domestics--Great Britain--Biography; Baptists--Great 

Britain--Biography; Number 10 Downing Street 

(London, England); World War, 1939-1945--Personal 

narratives, British; Great Britain--Biography. 195 p. : 

ill. ; 21 cm. 


“Every small scrap of experience has come 

together to prepare me for the next stage in my 

life. It’s been a pattern not of my own but of 

God’s making, and therefore it’s been the best.” 

This heartfelt attitude is evident throughout 

Serving the Good and the Great, an 

autobiographical and historical look at what life 

was like in England during World War II 

through the eyes of Violet Liddle, a British 

domestic servant. Among many of Liddle’s 

remembrances and encounters the reader is able 

to travel vicariously to the peaceful English 

countryside manor of George Bernard Shaw, to 

the bustling city of London when Winston 

Churchill resided at 10 Downing Street, and 

onto the contemporary movie set of Gosford 

Park. 

Throughout the book are subset paragraphs to 

include added detail about a particular person or 

situation that is mentioned in the text. Also 

included is a glossary of people, abbreviations, 

and terms. This helpful and thorough 

information is useful when explaining 

unfamiliar British terminology and would also 

be helpful to a younger reader gaining accurate, 

historical insight. 

Called to be a missionary at the age of fourteen 

Liddle constantly searched for ways to be 

involved in mission work, primarily through 

involvement in local church congregations. 

Despite never able to pursue full-time 

missionary work, it is evident that she 

ministered in non-traditional ways as she 

worked for some exceptional individuals, whom 

she saw as ordinary people. 

The story of this extraordinary woman will 

inspire readers of all ages to search for ways to 

be used of God where they are. 

Sarah Jo Burkhead, BM. Freelance Writer, Saint Clair, Missouri. 


Jesus : an intimate portrait of the man, his 

land, and his people / Leith Anderson. 

LCCN 2004024407. Minneapolis : 


HBB, 0764224794, list price: $19.99. 

B or 232.9/01. Jesus Christ--Biography. 363 p. : 

maps ; 24 cm. 


Jesus : An Intimate Portrait of the Man, His 

Land, and His People is a new biography 

written by Leith Anderson about the life of Jesus 

Christ. This book gives detailed descriptions of 

accounts written by Matthew, Mark, Luke, and 

John in the Bible, and presents them 

chronologically from his birth to his last days on 

earth. 

The product of years of extensive research, 

Jesus is an interesting and informative book for 

Christians and non-Christians alike. Side notes 

and detailed explanations of historical and 

political issues of Jesus’ time will enlighten the 

reader. Written in simple language, I highly 

recommend this book for anyone interested in 

learning more about the life of the man from 

humble beginnings who became the greatest 

man to ever walk the earth. 


A life with purpose : Reverend Rick 

Warren, the most inspiring pastor or our 

time / George Mair. LCCN 2005295661. 

New York : Berkley Books, 2005. 

HBB, 0425201740, list price: $19.95. 

B or 286/.1/092. Warren, Richard, 1954-; Christian 

biography; Protestants--Clergy--Biography; Protestant 

churches--United States--Growth. 211 p. : ill. ; 22 cm. 


A Life With Purpose is a brief but relevant look 

at the life of Saddleback pastor and Purpose 

Driven point man, Rick Warren. The author 

includes an introduction into church history in 

America, as well as a description of the people 

who helped Warren shape his unique ministry 

outlook. He addresses Warren’s ministry 

experiences up to the present in a general way. 

Also, a good portion of the book is dedicated to 

the nuts and bolts of church growth as laid out 

by Warren at Saddleback, and is written from a 

decidedly pro-Warren perspective. 

The book tends to be simplistic and straight 

forward, but is worth reading for the solid 

biographical information on Warren. Warren’s 

passion and perseverance can be an inspiration 

to church leaders or to a younger generation in 

search of unique and authentic leaders. The 

book does a good job capturing Warren’s heart 

for reaching people for Jesus, and points out that 

although Warren leads a mega church, he is by 

no means a mega millionaire. He pours much of 

the money that comes in back into the ministry 

as he looks to extend their efforts internationally. 

Warren’s life story has the potential of igniting 

passion within the lives of those who refuse the 



status quo, and would dream of something 

bigger. 

Michael Ramsey, M.A. Clayton, North Carolina. 

John Hus. Worcester, Pa. : Vision Video, 

1985. 

DVD, 1563647834, list price: $19.99. 

B or 921 or 284.3092. Hus, Jan, 1369?-1415; 

Martyrs. 1 videodisc (55 min.) : sd., col. ; 4 3/4 in. 

(Languages: English, Spanish, Portuguese, French) 


* 

God's outlaw : the story of William 

Tyndale / written by Ben Steed ; directed 

by Tony Tew. Worcester, Pa. : Vision 

Video, 1988. 

DVD, 1563647370, list price: $29.99. 

B or 921 or 274.2. Tyndale, William, d.1536. 1 

videodisc (93 min.) : sd., col. ; 4 3/4 in. (Languages.: 

English, Spanish, Portuguese, French) 

Grades 9-Adult. Rating : *5. 

Many dissatisfied people in the 15th and 16th 

century worked slowly for church reform. 

Others, such as William Tyndale and John Hus, 

eagerly promoted salvation as totally through 

faith in Jesus Christ. Tyndale and Hus translated 

the Holy Scriptures, and wanted each person to 

read the Bible in their own language. Vision 

Video offers two films about these times: John 

Hus : a Powerful, True Story, and God’s Outlaw 

: the Story of William Tyndale. 

Hus quoted Romans 4 and 5, as he preached in 

a Bohemian chapel. He spoke of peace with 

God through Jesus Christ. John Hus asked, 

“Where does it say in Scriptures that a man can 

buy his way into Heaven?” The established 

church intensely disliked Hus. He was burned 

at the stake on July 6, 1415. William Tyndale 

also worked against the established church, and 

the tradition of keeping all Scripture in Latin. 

Tyndale wrangled with colorful Henry VIII, fled 

to Europe, and was eventually betrayed. 

Both DVD’s offer touching scenes. Hus 

languishes in a filthy prison, and remembers his 

mother’s teachings. Another encouraging scene 

involved workmen preparing the stake and the 

wood to burn John Hus. One worker marveled, 

“He believes it’s not necessary to pay for a 

blessing. He thinks faith is enough to be 

forgiven.” That conversation should encourage 

all Christians. Hus never met the workmen, yet 

he influenced them greatly. While in prison, 

Tyndale requested his friends to bring a warm 

hood, and cloth to patch his leggings. He 

especially wanted a Hebrew grammar. Such 

was the man’s devotion to translating the 

Scripture. He paid for his views at a fiery stake. 

Excellent study materials are included in pdf 

format.. I especially liked the articles linked to 

Christian History magazine. Both films have 

received significant awards, including 

recognition from the Christian Film Distributors 

Association. 




2:52 soul gear 17 

Above all earthly powers 31 

Accidental detectives 27 

Adam of the Road 23 

Ahab's bride 31 

Ahab's legacy 31 

AIDS epidemic : disaster & survival 20 

Al Capone does my shirts 23 

Algonquin 7 

Always green 34 

American Indian nations 6 

America's first peoples 6, 7 

Amis, Nancy 21 

Anderson, Leith 39 

Angel came to Nazareth 9 

Angel Delaney mystery 32 

Arby Jenkins meets his match 13 

Arby Jenkins series 13 

Arthur, Sarah 4 

Aslan's call 3 

Auer, Chris 11 

Austin, Lynn N. 33 

Authors teens love 30 

Baehr, James 4 

Baehr, Ted 4 

Bark of the bog owl 23 

Barr, Marilynn G. 17 

Batchelor, Mary 39 

Baynes, Pauline 2 

Bearcub and Mama 10 

Beck Easton adventure 32 

Bernard, Catherine 30 

Beyond Tuesday morning 34 

Biotechnology and genetic engineering 29 

Bird 23 

Bishop, Nic 30 

Blackston, Ray 34 

Blackwell, Lawana 35 

Bly, Stephen A. 34 

Bourgeois, Paulette 20 

Bradford, June 21 

Brammer, Deb 16 

Brave dogs, gentle dogs : how they guard sheep 10 

Bright Easter day 18 

Brink of death 31 

Bronze bow 24 

Brooks, Bruce 26 

Brothers, Karen 17 

Brouwer, Sigmund 27 

Brown, Devin 3 

Brown, Don 35 

Bruner, Kurt D. 3 

Brunstetter, Wanda E. 35 

Buckwalter, Stephanie 20 

Call It Courage 24 

Catherine, called Birdy 24 

Cavanaugh, Jack 31, 32 

Ceban, Bonnie J. 20 

Cherokee : an independent nation 6 

Cherokee : native basket weavers 6 

Cheyenne : hunter-gatherers of the northern plains 

6 

Child's garden of Bible stories 17 

Child's garden of prayer 17 

Choctaw : stickball players of the south 6 

Choldenko, Gennifer 23 

Chrisman, Arthur Bowie 15 

Christ : His miracles, His ministry, His mission37 

Chumash 7 

Chumash : seafarers of the Pacific Coast 6 

Clark, John Owen Edward 29 

Cody's varsity rush and 24 

Collins, Brandilyn 31 

Comanche : nomads of the northern plains 6 

Come look with me 20, 21 

Come look with me : art in early America 21 

Come look with me : discovering African American art 

for children 20 

Come look with me : discovering women artists for 

children 21 

Come thirsty 38 

Complete chronicles of Narnia 2 

Cooper, Ilene 27 

Coyne, Jennifer Tarr 21 

Cushman, Karen 24 

Daintith, John. 29 

Dangerous crossing : the revolutionary voyage of 

John Quincy Adams 13 

Davey, Charles 20, 21 

De Angeli, Marguerite 13 

Deadly disasters 20 

Dean, Carol Shorey 11 

DeAngelis, Therese 6, 7 

Dear enemy 32 

Deep blue 32 

DiCamillo, Kate 14 

Discover space 19 

Discover the planets 19 

Door in the Wall 13 

Downing, David C. 2 

Doyle, Christopher 18 

Dragons of the deep : ocean monsters past and 

present 29 

Dunlop, Ed 14 

Dunn, Sandra 11 

Dying to kill 32 

E.B. White : spinner of webs and tales 30 

Earthquakes : disaster & survival 20 

Eastman, Dianne 15 

Easy-to-do holiday crafts 21 

Ebony & ivory : discovering 10 keys to racial 

harmony 18 

Edwards, Bruce L. 2 

Eldest 25 

Elkins, Stephen 18 

Enemy brothers 25 

Englar, Mary 6, 7 

Facts on File dictionary of biology 29 

Facts on File dictionary of chemistry 29 

Facts on File dictionary of mathematics 29 

Facts on File dictionary of physics 29 

Facts on File library of language and literature 

29 

Facts on File science library 29 

Faith for Today 40 

Falling in love with the Bible 37 

Farnsworth, Bill 12 

Farris, Christine King 22 

Fell, Doris Elaine 36 

Field of beans 15 

Field, Rachel 14 

Fields of valor 36 

Fig Street kids 16 

Finding God in the land of Narnia 3 

Firefighters 20 

First reports 7 

Fleabiscuit sings! 13 

INDEX 

Franklin and the cookies 10 

Franklin and the tin flute 10 

Franklin's library book 10 

Franklin's pond phantom 10 

French, Martin 5 

Frog wars 15 

Gabrielino 7 

Gagnon, Celeste 10 

Garden gates 34 

Garden in Paris 32 

Gauthier, Corbert 17 

Gibson, Karen Bush 6, 7 

GodQuest 17 

God's outlaw : the story of William Tyndale 40 

Gouge, Louise M. 31 

Gray-Kanotiiosh, Barbara A. 7, 8 

Griffin, Jim 11 

Gross, Arthur William 17 

Gurley, Nan 12 

Hafer, Todd 24, 25 

Halverson, Tom 14 

Hambrick, Sharon 13, 16 

Harlin, Greg 13 

Hasselriis, Else 15 

Hathaway, Barbara 26 

Haysom, John 18 

Healing America : the life of Senate majority leader 

William H. Frist, M.D. and the issues that shape our 

times 38 

Heart of Narnia : knowing God here by finding him 

there 2 

Heart of Thornton Creek 33 

Heart of Thornton Creek 33 

Heller, Ruth 19 

Helmer, Marilyn 15 

Hendry, Linda 12 

Hennessy, B. G. 11 

Here today 25 

Hidden faces series 31 

Hill, Patti 34 

Hine, Robert 29 

Hitty, Her First Hundred Years 14 

Hockman-Wert, Cathleen 38 

Hood, Susan 12 

Hopi 7 

Horrible Harry and the locked closet 14 

Hubler, Marsha 28 

Hunter, James C. 39 

Huron 8 

I like weather! 19 

If grace is so amazing, why don't we like it? 38 

Igloos 7 

Incredible rescues 14 

Inheritance 25 

Inside Narnia 3 

Into the wardrobe : C.S. Lewis and the Narnia 

chronicles 2 

Inuit 7 

Inuit : ivory carvers of the Far North 6 

Iroquois : longhouse builders 6 

Iroquois : the six nations confederacy 6 

Jennings, Sharon 10 

Jerome, Karen A. 10 

Jesus : an intimate portrait of the man, his land, 

and his people 39 

Jesus in the margins 38 

Jim Elliot (DVD) 21 

John Hus 40 

Johnson, Angela 23 


INDEX 

Johnson, Rick 11 

Jordan, Anna Louise 19 

Jumbo book of needlecrafts 21 

Just add one Chinese sister 10 

Karr, Kathleen 28 

Keith, Harold 27 

Kenney, Cindy 15, 17 

Keystone Stables 28 

Kids can read 19, 20 

Kingsbury, Karen 34 

Kirk, E. J. 5 

Kline, Suzy 14 

Kneen, Maggie 9 

Knott, Anthony 9 

Knowing Aslan 4 

Koestler-Grack, Rachel A. 6, 7 

Kopp, David 5 

Kopp, Heather 5 

Krensky, Stephen 13 

Kurisu, Jane 21 

Labatt, Mary 12 

LaFave, Kim 20 

Larson, Gary N. 37 

Last storyteller 33 

Lathrop, Dorothy L. 14 

Lawson, Robert 23 

Legend of the Christmas stocking : an inspirational 

story of a wish come true 11 

Legend of the sand dollar 11 

Lenburg, Jeff 29 

Leon, Bonnie 33 

Lewis, C.S. 2, 5 

Lewis, Echo 26 

Library in a book 29 

Liddle, Violet 39 

Life with purpose : Reverend Rick Warren, the most 

inspiring pastor or our time 39 

Light to my path 33 

Like a watered garden 34 

Lind, Mary Beth 38 

Live bale of hay : a real Maine adventure 11 

Long way from Welcome 26 

Longhouses 7 

Losch, Richard R. 37 

Lost in place 15 

Lost in Rooville 34 

Lowenstein, Felicia 19 

Lucado, Max 38 

MacIntosh, Mike 37 

Mair, George 39 

Manning, Maurie J. 16 

Martin, Ann M. 25 

Martin, Charles 38 

Maze, Deborah 5 

McCarthy, Conor Clarke 10 

McCullough, Donald W. 38 

McIntyre, Sasha 10 

McKeehan, Roby 18 

McKinley, Rick 38 

McMahon, Patricia 10 

Mead, Marjorie Lamp 4 

Melo, Esperanca 21 

Memories of a dirt road town 34 

Mennonite Central Committee 38 

Mercy Watson to the rescue 14 

Merriam-Webster's alphabet book 19 

Merriam-Webster's primary dictionary 19 

Missy Violet & me 26 

Mojave 8 

Molly & the good shepherd 11 

Montgomery, Sy 30 

Moore, Diane 38 

Morrisey, Tom 32 

Morrison, Tony 18 

Moves make the man 26 

My book of thanks 11 

My brother Martin : a sister remembers growing up 

with the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. 22 

Nakata, Hiroe 11 

Narnia beckons 4 

Native American life 7 

Native Americans 7, 8 

Navajo 7 

Navajo : weavers of the southwest 6 

Navy justice series 35 

New Unger's Bible handbook 37 

Nicolson, Cynthia Pratt 19 

No shame, no fear 26 

Noble, Diane 33 

Nolan, Dennis 22 

Not-a-tame lion 2 

Oh, look! 12 

Ojibwa : people of the Great Lakes 6 

Ojibwa : wild rice gatherers 7 

One hundred Bible stories 17 

One Splendid Tree 15 

One Tuesday morning 34 

Orphans of Normandy: a true story of world war II 

told through drawings by children 21 

Osborne, Rick 11, 17 

Osofsky, Randy 21 

Over the waters 35 

Paolini, Christopher 25 

Parade for Sam 12 

Parenting the heart of your child 38 

Pawnee : farmers and hunters of the central plains 

6 

Peck, Richard 28 

Penman, Robert 10 

Perfect wizard : Hans Christian Andersen 22 

Peterson, Doug 15 

Phantom outlaw at Wolf Creek 27 

Plank houses 7 

Polacco, Patricia 12 

Porter, David 30 

Postal workers 20 

Preszler, June 7 

Pueblo : farmers of the southwest 6 

Pueblo : southwestern potters 7 

Pueblos 7 

Pup and Hound in trouble 12 

Pup and Hound stay up late 12 

Queensland chronicles 33 

Raney, Deborah 35 

Readers' guide through the wardrobe 4 

Reed, Jennifer 20 

Refiner's fire 33 

Reisch, Jesse 18 

Remember : the journey to school integregation 18 

Remkiewicz, Frank 14 

Rennie, Richard 29 

Rest of forever 27 

Rifles for Watie 27 

Roar! : a Christian family guide to the Chronicles 

of Narnia 5 

Roberson, Carroll 37 

Rogers, Jonathan 3, 23 

Rolling, James Haywood 20 

Rosinsky, Natalie M. 7 

Rumford, James 22 

Rushford, Patricia H. 32 

Ryken, Leland 4 

Sadler, Judy Ann 21 

Salinan 8 

Sam I am 27 

Sam's snowy day 12 

Sarrazin, Mariso. 12 

Savery, Constance 25 

Schakel, Peter J. 3 

Schmidt, Erin 19 

Season of dreams 27 

Seminole : Patchworkers of the Everglades 7 

Seminole : the first people of Florida 6 

Sequoyah : the Cherokee man who gave his people 

writing 22 

Serving the good and the great : the amazing true 

story of Violet Liddle 39 

Shawnee 8 

Shen of the Sea 15 

Short cuts 27 

Shoshone 8 

Shoshone : pine nut harvesters of the Great Basin 

7 

Shyer, Marlene Fanta 13 

Simply in season : a world community cookbook 38 

Sioux : nomadic buffalo hunters 7 

Sioux : people of the great plains 6 

Slavin, Bill 19, 20 

Slavin, Jim 20 

Smith, Mark Eddy 3 

Soentpiet, Chris 22 

Songs in the night 31 

Soul of the Lion, the witch & the wardrobe 4 

Southern, Shelley 10 

Speare, Elizabeth George 24 

Spellman, Susan 18 

Sperry, Armstrong 24 

Spirit of the game series 24, 25 

Spoon in the stone 15 

Stain of Guilt 31 

Steed, Ben 40 

Step into Narnia 5 

Stiegemeyer, Julie 18 

Storekeeper's daughter 35 

Story of Easter 18 

Table by the window 35 

Tanneberg, Ward M. 36 

Tarantula scientist 30 

Tepees 7 

Tew, Tony 40 

The Facts on File guide to research 29 

This is no fairy tale 17 

Thoennes Keller, Kristin 7 

Thompson, Del 13 

Three-point play 25 

Todd, Anne M. 6 

Tolmasoff, Dale 17 

Tommy's pocket 16 

Tommy's race 16 

Torchlighters : heroes of the faith series 21 

Tornadoes : disaster & survival 20 

Transformed 20 

Treason 35 

Trouble times two 28 

Trumbauer, Lisa 19 


Trumpet at Twisp 36 

Turnbull, Ann 26 

Two sides to everything 16 

Umnik, Sharon Dunn 21 

Unger, Merrill Frederick 37 

Urbigkit, Cat 10 

Ute 8 

Uttermost part of the earth : a guide to places in 

the Bible 37 

Van Dusen, Chris 14 

Vanished 36 

Veggie Bible dictionary 17 

VeggieTown values 15 

Veith, Gene Edward 4 

Vining, Elizabeth Gray, 1902- 23 

Volcanoes : disaster & survival 20 

Walking through the wardrobe : a devotional quest 

into The lion, the witch, and the wardrobe 4 

Wampanoag 8 

Ware, Jim 3 

Watt, Melanie 10 

Way into Narnia : a reader's guide 3 

Weiland, Carl 29 

West, Angela 4 

Westra, Sharon 27 

What color is God's love : a parable of God's gifts 

12 

What does a community helper do? 19 

What does a firefighter do? 19 

What does a mail carrier do? 19 

What does a police officer do? 19 

What does an EMT do? 19 

Whitson, Stephanie Grace 32 

Why is it snowing? 19 

Wickiups 7 

wilderking trilogy 23 

Williams, Judith 19 

Williams, T. M. (Thomas Myron) 2, 4 

Winning gymnastics for girls 30 

Wiskur, Darrell 29 

World according to Narnia : Christian meaning in 

C.S. Lewis's beloved chronicles 3 

World of Narnia collection 5 

Worlds apart 28 

World's most powerful leadership principle : how to 

become a servant leader 39 

Wummer, Amy 11 

Year Down Yonder, A 28 

Yokut 8 

Yolen, Jane 22 

Young refugees 14 

Yount, Lisa 29 

INDEX 



INDEX 


INDEX 


INDEX 


INDEX

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